All resource persons and experts at the 10th and last session of the 21st edition of The Hindu Education Plus Career Counselling at Poojya Doddappa Appa Sabha Bhavan on Sharnbasva University campus in Kalaburagi on Sunday were unanimous in advising students: just follow what your heart says in choosing your career option and not what others suggest or what they pursue as their career options.
Deputy Commissioner Yeshwanth Gurukar, Superintendent of Police Isha Pant, Chairman and Managing Director of United Hospitals Vikram Siddareddy and other resource persons categorically advised students to find, before finalising their career direction, what they are interested in, without getting influenced by what their parents want, what the children of their neighbours are pursuing or what their friends are aspiring to be.
Both Mr. Gurukar and Ms. Pant shared a number of experiences from their own lives and careers while advising students not to have inferiority complex but to have a feeling of being proud of what they are and pursue what they aspire to be.
“My salary package was around ₹1 crore at a private e-commerce company, Flipkart. I saw hundreds of crores of rupees coming in every day during the Big Billion Days Sale. But I was not completely happy as I was simply facilitating the sale of commodities to consumers. I quit the job and cleared the UPSC exams to become an IAS officer in pursuance of my passion to serve the people. Now, I am happy as I have the satisfaction of serving millions of people even though my monthly salary is just ₹1.51 lakh,” Mr. Gurukar said.
He specifically spoke about three Cs – Conviction, Clarity and Communication – for students who are aspiring to becoming civil servant. He also stressed the need for them to have command over English language and possess skills more than having degrees.
“If you want to learn English or any other language, you must have command over your mother tongue. Having command over your mother tongue will help you learn other languages. You should not have inferiority complex. You should have confidence that you are not less than anybody else,” Mr. Gurukar said.
Ms. Pant devoted much of her time to motivating the girls and encouraging them to take up challenging tasks to get equal footing in a male-dominated society.
“We, the women, constitute half of the population and we should have half of the public space. Society is gender-biased. Men’s mistakes are ignored and women’s mistakes are shown with magnifying glasses. Whatever men do is taken positively and whatever women do is taken negatively. That prejudice doesn’t put me down. I am proud of being a woman and also, a woman police officer. I don’t change my personality to be in the good books of others. You too should not,” she said.
Stressing the need for having confidence and working hard to succeed in life, Ms. Pant advised students not to get disappointed or depressed by failures.
“There is none in the world who has not failed in life. We all have failed at one point or the other in our lives. I failed to clear my UPSC exam in my first attempt. I did it only in the second attempt. I was shivering when I participated in a debate competition for the first time in my school. Now, I am confidently delivering my speech at this event. Failures should make you strong and they should not make you weak. When you fail, just review the failure to identify your shortcoming and work on it to improve. Success will follow you,” Ms. Pant said.
Both Mr. Gurukar and Ms. Pant said how reading The Hindu regularly helped them in clearing the UPSC examinations.
Dr. Siddareddy, who spoke on the opportunities and challenges in the medical stream, categorically made it clear that the medical stream is meant for those whose passion is serving the people.
“As compared to other degrees, medical degree is lengthier. It takes minimum six years and a maximum of 12 years after the completion of your PU. The other challenge is the relatively high cost for pursuing the course. If you are driven by a passion of serving the people, medical profession is made for you. The amount of gratification it gives is immense,” he said.
