“Learn the rules before breaking them.” – Ms Sharmistha Mukherjee
Ms Sharmistha Mukherjee, world renowned classical dancer, and daughter of Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, visited Lovely Professional University on 28 September 2016. In her interaction with LPU students, she shared with them, her views on India’s great cultural heritage, and its values of liberty, democracy, innovation, learning, independence and passion to live life to its fullest.
She was at LPU to define “the role of youth in nation building”, and her message was that the need of the hour is that the youth of the country channelize its energy towards constructive purposes. She discussed how 50% of Indian people are below the age of 25 and that according to one survey by 2020 the average age in India will be 29. This will mean a lot of youth capital for the country which with correct direction will lead us to greatness. She talked about girl empowerment, poverty, unemployment and other issues that the country can improve upon. In an interactive session with the students, Ms Mukherjee answered various questions related to brain-drain, corruption, social media, nepotism, and reservation. She told students that corruption can be abolished only through people’s movement and awareness. She also upheld that social media has both positive and negative aspects but it should be utilized with dignity of interaction and discourse. Talking about reservation, she called it socio-economic justice, elaborating that in an ideal society there would not be not be discrimination, and so there would not be a need for reservation.
She also shared her experiences of college and advised the students to learn the rules before breaking them. “Whenever I interact with college students I forget that about my age. In my heart I still feel that I’m a college students and can just go out and have conversations with my friends over tea at a dhaba.”, she said, remembering her college days. After completing her post-graduation in Sociology, she chose to pursue her dream of dancing professionally. “Do what you love. Choosing to be a professional dancer was a hard decision as it doesn’t have job security, and gives uneven pay, but it’s what I love, so I chose it.”, she shared with the audience.
She urged the students to best utilize their youth to create wonders and do great things. She advised them to make the right choices so that they may never feel regret. Being an Indian National Congress politician, she also talked about the importance of exercising the right to vote. She concluded the visit by urging the students, once again, to pursue their dreams with passion.
