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governing
council | Sarala
Birla factfile |
speech by Mr.
Narayana Murthy | speech
by Prof. Prema Pandurang
"Raja
Baldeodasji Birla started a school in Pilani
to educate his son Ghanshyam Dasji Birla
107 years ago. We started Mahadevi Birla
Shishu Vihar 57 years ago — to educate
our son Aditya. Now Kumar Mangalam has started
a school to educate children from all over
India. So the tradition continues into our
5th generation. What greater joy can there
be for a grandmother than to receive such
a wonderful selfless tribute from a worthy
grandson dedicated to the welfare of India.
Despite his enormous responsibilities as
a new generation entrepreneur, Kumar Mangalam's
passion for education is unbounded. His
personal attention to every detail of this
school has been aimed at making this school
a world-class centre of learning. I am an
Indian grandmother, greatly proud of my
grandson and am basking in his love.
"Education in our country is passing
through a process of self-examination in
order to improve the system. It is trying
to blend the tested best of the past with
the exciting new ideas of the present. Perhaps
no other city in our country is more suited
to this purpose than Bangalore where ideas
crop up and are nurtured almost every day.
"Shri Krishna tells Arjuna — na
ih gnyan sadrsam pavitramah vighte -
there is no better purifier than knowledge.
"In India, education has been looked
upon as a second birth, which is
the privilege of a man. 'Vidya' - the Sanskrit
term for education, signifies that which
makes man free — saa vidya yaa vimuktyao
— it makes man free from all bondage
— freedom from ignorance, freedom from
fear, freedom from all limitations. To grow
to the full stature of man is the goal of
all 'vidya' or education. Where the mind
is without fear and the head is held high
— to that heaven we are carried up
through education.
"Education begins with the learning
of three R's - Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic
and ends with the attainment of perfection
in the three C's — Conduct, Character,
and Consciousness."
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