“Our thoughts have the power to either toughen us up for challenges or throw us into frustration; having affirmative and constructive thoughts helps in making a person optimistic,” Lokayukta B.S. Patil has said.
Delivering the seventh convocation address of Central University of Karnataka in Kalaburagi on Friday, Mr. Patil, in his 30-minute inspiring speech, called upon students to develop positive thinking and confidence in order to excel in every field.
One has to shed one’s negative thinking and go ahead with positive thoughts to make one’s life meaningful and subjective, he added.
Laying emphasis on students developing skills, Mr. Patil said that both the teacher and the student have to put in their best as the art of listening is equally important and essential as the art of teaching.
Active listening is hard to follow and it is a skill worth developing, Mr. Patil said and asked students to avoid the three blocks to listening, the voice of judgment, the voice of cynicism and the voice of fear, to become good listeners.
The voice of judgment tries to judge and pass judgment that distracts from listening by passing disempowering remarks, while the voice of cynicism is a pessimistic inner voice that causes a sense of resignation. The voice of fear is a state of psychosis under which people resist listening to new ideas and new thoughts, he said.
Referring to the increasing menace of corruption, Mr. Patil said that corruption is an insidious menace and an obstacle to economic and social development. It has hugely affected administration and governance. When 50% of the total project cost is paid as bribe, this affects economic growth, he added.
Expressing displeasure over increasing corruption, nepotism and maladministration, examination scams, recruitment scams and misuse of welfare schemes, Mr. Patil said that such thoughts germinate from greed, selfishness and unethical ideas to become an overnight success and this has led to such social menace.
He called upon everyone to think from a positive perspective as the nation is built by the deeds of each individual citizen.
Gold medals
A total of 42 students from 27 departments received gold medals during the seventh annual convocation. As many as 696 students received convocation certificates.
Bavikadi Divyagna, a student from Technology in Information and Communication Technology Department, has been conferred the Prof. M.A. Pathan Gold Medal. Her parents received the award on her behalf.
Vice-Chancellor Battu Satyanarayana, Controller of Examinations Kota Sai Krishna and Registrar R.R. Biradar were present.
