An animal’s progress is induced by needs but human progress is caused by thoughts.
Inspirational Speech given by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling before the final match of the LD Kazi Memorial Gold Cup -interschool Football Tournament held on May 4, 2015 at Chakhung Playground. It was attended by the students from 33 schools under the Soreng Sub-division.
Part II
In order to become a great man or woman; to prosper Sikkim; to make the Sikkimese people great; we have to have to be large-hearted people. We have to accommodate the language, culture, desires, aspirations, dreams and faith of others. Students must regard moral values. People in the past had small dreams because they were not well-educated. They aspired to become soldiers and subedars. Now if you want to join the Indian army, aim for nothing less than being a General. It is up to you what you want to become. Two Gorkhas, namely Shakti Gurung and Prem Pradhan became Lieutenant General. We should aspire and try our hands at everything – nothing is impossible in this world. Pawan Chamling is standing solidly alongside your dreams. You must aim for New York from Sikkim. Study hard, aiming to become Chief Secretary and Cabinet Secretary and so on.
Teachers should never talk about personal grudges and communal matters which blotches the nobility of your profession and downgrades your dignity. I have honoured you, not with my lips but with my actions. I have honoured your dignity and profession. You have to work hard, intending to bring our students on par with their American counterparts. Teachers must think hard, lifting themselves higher in their thoughts and conduct. Students can research human thoughts and mentality. An animal’s progress is induced by needs but human progress is caused by thoughts. That is why we have to fear a well-fed man and a hungry tiger. Be careful with a known person and an unknown dog. Wisdom backs our thoughts. When a negative tendency grips us we have to ask, not our mind but our heart. Our heart never lies. When we feel depressed we have to instantly ask our heart.
We should be able to accept the truth. When we accept reality half the problem is solved. People commit suicide when they fail to accept reality. Depression can also lead to suicide. Denial or non- acceptance is a big problem. A denial of truth is the cause of sorrow. Buddha said that birth, life and death- all are the cause of sorrow. People can suffer from poverty or unemployment problems. Sorrow is like an iron chain. No sooner the problem is solved then they throw the chain away. Pleasure is like a gold chain. When a man prospers, finds a job and becomes happy, he gets increasingly entangled in the gold chain. Nobody wants to throw a gold chain and it begins to weight increasingly heavily on him. Greed multiplies. Buddha said that it is only when man gets rid of sorrow and pleasure that he can attain bliss. People with gold chains do not like me. The rich, high and mighty do not like me. Materially prosperous people are against me.
The world is increasingly becoming more competitive for survival. Scientist, Steven Hawking says that the world is under human subjection because the human mind rules over it. That is the kind of world you are going to have to live in. Get rid of wrong thinking. People have started travelling in Concorde (supersonic) aeroplanes. World destroying nuclear weapons and biological weapon like anthrax have been made ready for use. A device to alter genes has been invented. Cloning is possible. Making synthetic cells is now a reality. Man is made up of cells and there are over 10 crore cells in a human body. John Hopkins is the first doctor to have ever conducted open heart surgery and heart transplantation. Now many other organs can also be transplanted. War strategies and patterns have changed. Biological terrorism has begun. Our survival demands that we ideologically and conceptually think and live like the citizens of first world countries. We are running with a first world mindset.
Certificate-oriented education has become virtually redundant. Education that enhances capabilities and aptitude is the need of the hour. We have to act in accordance with time and opportunity. Identify your core competencies. It is high time that we changed our weapons. Laying aside the irrelevant khukuri, we have to take the weapons of skill and knowledge. Students must take their studies seriously. We have to emphasize personality development. We have to be people who can lead. We have to be accomplished human beings. Students, you can learn from my life also. I am a small man but people entrusted me with the responsibility of ruling this government five times. I have always been driven by a sincere intent to contribute to Sikkim in the best way possible to give justice to the trust reposed on me by the Sikkimese people. Try to translate my advice into practice in your life.
Our thoughts shape our being- as a man thinks, so he is. Inculcate good thinking and you will become a good person. That is my message to you. Worms that feed on dirt die there, eating dirt all their life. For such a worm the entire world must seem like a cesspool. That is its nature. Bees and butterflies hover around flowers and to them the world seems like a garden. Like bees and butterflies you have to take the beautiful aspects of the world and change them into a garden. You can be good by pursuing only that which is good. If we live that way Sikkim will be a garden. Sikkim will be a beautiful place inhabited by people with beautiful minds and thinking. But Sikkim has become more beautiful than it was 20 years ago. Take a look at the situation in Nagaland and Manipur and compare them with Sikkim and you will appreciate how good our state is. I want to make Sikkim even better. We have to think about making it better. Kings, Kazis and Mr. Bhandari- none of them thought along those lines. But we thought that everyone of us has to contribute to accomplish it. Your contribution at the moment is to study seriously. The teachers’ contribution is to teach the best way possible. The employees’ contribution is to work for the greater interests of the Sikkimese people and the people’s contribution is to hold on to their respective duties and responsibilities, taking due advantage of all the opportunities. Bhutias, Lepchas, Nepalis and all religious sects have to learn in harmony which will be a significant contribution to the development of Sikkim. It is only when we think along these lines with such a sense of unity that we can contribute fully as a responsible citizen. But such social sensibility has not quite developed in Sikkim. Consequently, the oppressors are exploiting the people and irresponsible leaders are deceiving people by spreading hatred in the name of caste, community and political parties.
We have to work as Sikkimese people for the interests of Sikkim by shunning division. Intelligent, scientific and hardworking people move forward. Capability is the greatest thing. Our work and capability pushes us ahead. Just working hard like an ant does not work. We have to be creative like the bee. We have to choose professions that will last longer than one’s life span. Never lose heart. I am confident that the people of Sikkim and our students will never lose heart. Those of us who want to learn – we are students for life. We have to keep learning good things. We have to uproot all the evil thoughts like violence, murder, oppression, communal mistrust and repression. This age is to move towards wisdom not war, to conversation not conflict.
Thank you. (Concluded)