Address During The Interaction With The Students Of Allahabad District

Nothing is Impossible

I am indeed delighted to interact with the students of Allahabad District. My Greetings to the Head Masters, teachers, parents and students.

My message

Dear Children, you are all in the mission of learning. What learning will give?

"When learning is purposeful, creativity blossoms.

When the creativity blossoms, thinking emanates.

When thinking emanates, knowledge is fully lit.

When knowledge is lit, the society is enriched."

Since many of you belong to the science stream and also 2005 happen to be the International year of Physics 2005, I would like to narrate to you how great scientists got shaped when they were young.

Teachers influence

In Albert Einstein life, we find that his interest in science started early, beginning with his encounter with magnetism, which he called "the first miracle". He was given a compass by his father and Einstein was endlessly fascinated by the fact that invisible forces could make object move. This experience made a lasting impression on him. His interest in compasses was reinforced when he found a caring mentor to hone his ideas. At the age of 12, he experienced second wonder in a little book given by his mentor Max Talmud with Euclidean plain Geometry which he called "Holy Geometry Book". Einstein called this his ?second miracle?. Here Einstein made contact with the realm of pure thought. Without expensive laboratories or equipment, he could explore universal truth, limited only by the power of human mind. Mathematics became an endless source of pleasure to Einstein especially if intriguing puzzle and mysteries were involved.

Visualizing pictures: Einstein's father was in an electro chemical business. Being in the midst of electro magnetic contraptions awakened an intuitive understanding of electricity and magnetism in Albert Einstein. It sharpens his ability to develop graphic, physical pictures that would describe the laws of nature with uncanny accuracy. This trait, the ability to see everything in terms of physical pictures, would mark one of Einstein's greatest characteristics as a physicist.

Freedom to Learn: Though born in Germany, Einstein moved to Zurich Polytechnic Institute in Switzerland. The entry into the polytechnic did not require a high school diploma, just a passing grade on its tough entrance examination was sufficient. Einstein failed in the entrance examination but he did exceptionally well in the Maths and Physics section. That impressed the Principal and he promised to take him during the following year without an entrance test. The message we get from this experience is about having a flexible system of admission. Also an ability to spot the aptitude of the student in a particular subject and nourishing the talents. In addition, Einstein enjoyed the liberal atmosphere of the Swiss school.

Simplicity in description: Unlike lesser scientists who often got lost in Mathematics, Einstein got in terms of simple physical picture ? speeding trains, falling elevators, rockets and moving clocks. These pictures would unerringly guide him through the greatest ideas of the twentieth century. He wrote "All physical theories, their mathematical expression notwithstanding, ought to lend themselves to so simple a description that even a child could understand". This is a very important message for all physics researchers and physics teachers. Here the birth of famous simple, elegant and very powerful energy equation E=MC2, which decided war and peace system of the world. Now I would like to discuss about the Nobel Laureate towards Raman Effect.

Towards Raman Effect

Why is the sea blue? The view has been expressed that the dark blue of the deep sea has nothing to do with the color of water. It is simply the blue of the sky seen by reflection. Sir CV Raman then questions this view describing his own experiment on board the ship: Observations made in this way in the deeper waters of Mediterranean and Red sea showed that the color so far, from being impoverished by suppression of sky reflection was wonderfully improved here by. It was abundantly clear from the observation that the blue color of the deep sea is a distinct phenomenon itself and not merely an effect due to reflected sky light. Later Raman draws attention to the connection between the color of deep waters and the Einstein Smoluchowski formula. Naturally he starts with that the sky is blue because of scattering of light by the molecules in the upper atmosphere. The color of the sea is a different matter. Rayleigh believes it was all due to reflection, but Raman gives an entirely different view, that in this phenomenon, as in the parallel case of the color of sky, molecular diffraction determines the observed luminosity and in great measures also its color. Hence the birth of the Raman Effect. Now I would like to discuss with you on the topic "for creative mind nothing is impossible".

Nothing is impossible?

Human flight is nothing but creativity of human mind and it undergoes several struggles to achieve excellence. In 1895, a great well-known scientist Lord Kelvin, who was the President of Royal Society of London said, "any thing heavier than air cannot fly, and cannot be flown." Within a decade, Wright Brothers proved man could fly of course at heavy risk and cost.

On the successful completion of Moon Mission in 1969, Von Braun, a very famous rocket designer, who built Saturn-V, to launch the capsule with astronauts and made moon walk a reality, in 1975 said "If I am authorized, I will remove the word impossible".

In ancient days, Ptolemaic astronomy is a widely used system in calculating the dynamics of various stars and planets. Assumption by then was that the earth is flat. What a scientific struggle had to take place to prove that the earth is spherical in shape orbiting around the sun. The three great astronomers Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler had to give a new dimension to the world of astronomy. Today we take it for granted that earth is a globe, orbiting around the sun, and the sun orbits in the Milky Way. All the technological advancements we have today are the outcome of scientific exploration of scientists of earlier centuries. At no time, man was beaten by problems. He strives continuously to subjugate impossibility and then succeeds.

According to the laws of aerodynamics the bumble bee should never be able to fly. Because of the size, weight, and shape of its body in relationship to the total wing span, flying is scientifically impossible. The bumble bee, being ignorant of scientific theory, goes ahead and flies anyway. I would like the youth assembled here to take a lesson from these examples and work to make everything possible.

Diverting Asteroids

A few days back one important event took place in space. That was the impact of the NASA spacecraft called deep impact smashing into the comet Tempel-I, with enough force to create football stadium sized crater with a depth of a 14 storey building. The spacecraft was navigated by an Indian Shyam Bhaskaran - the deep impact traveled 431 million kms in 172 days escaping from the earth orbit and intercepted the comet at a straight distance from earth at 134 million km. the comet was orbiting around the Sun every five and half years. This is a land mark in space exploration.

This event is important to divert asteroids which may hit the earth in future. One such large asteroid 1950 AD is expected to hit the earth on March 16, 2880 AD and nearly one third of the earth will be damaged. Like the "Deep Impact" one spacecraft is required to be sent with high energy material to divert or break the asteroid to move it out of the present orbit.

Conclusion: Empowerment

When a child is empowered by the parents at various phases of growth, the child gets transformed into a responsible citizen. When a teacher is empowered with knowledge and experience, good young human beings with value systems emerge. When an individual or a team is empowered with technology, transformation to higher potential for achievement is assured. When a leader of any village empowers his or her people, leaders are born who can change the nation in multiple areas. When women are empowered, society with stability gets assured. When the political leaders of the nation empower the people through visionary policies, the prosperity of the nation is certain. When religions are empowered and become spiritual force, peace and happiness will blossom in people's heart. Empowerment of various layers of management structure is indeed the best instrument to maximize the performance of a given fund to the developmental tasks. I am sure empowered children of this school will play an important role in transforming India into a developed nation.

My best wishes to you all for success in your educational career. May God bless you.

Now, I would like to administer a six point oath to the students. Are you ready?

Six Point Oath

1. I will pursue my education with dedication and I will excel in it.

2. I will plant at least 5 saplings and shall ensure their growth through constant care.

3. I will constantly endeavor to remove the pain of my suffering brethren.

4. I will work for becoming an enlightened citizen and make my family righteous.

5. I will always be a friend of the mentally and physically challenged and will work hard to make them feel normal, like the rest of us.

6. We the children of Uttar Pradesh promise that we will work hard with honesty to transform our State into a developed State. Happy and prosperous Uttar Pradesh will make happy and prosperous India.

Questions and Answers

Charu Verma, Class XII, Jagat Taran Golden Jubilee

1. Mr. President ! Many get honoured on getting such honourable post. But you have honoured your post. What is your message for us youngsters who are going to be vanguard of a country? What extra bit of effort should we put on to fulfill our dreams?

Ans. Continuous acquisition of knowledge and hard work are vital for the growth of human minds. This combination always assisted the great minds like Mahatma Gandhi (Ahimsa Dharma), Albert Einstein (Theory of relativity), Thomas Alva Edison (Application of Electricity), Charles Darwin (Theory of Natural Selection), Sir CV Raman (Raman Effect), Chandrasekhar Subramaniam (Black Hole and Chandrasekhar limit).

First of all I would like you to study well and excel in the subject of your choice. This will make you a competent person to undertake complex jobs after your education. While being in college you can use your holidays to educate at least five people who cannot read and write. You can also plant five trees in your school premises or neighbouring areas and nurture it till it becomes self-sustaining.

Asha Kumar, XIIth B, KVS Bamhrauli

2. Undoubtedly India has no dearth of talents and brilliant mind yet in some important field we are still lagging behind. What could be the possible efforts to compete those having ability to stand in all walks of life? Will India again be called "Sone Ki Chiriya".

Ans. What we need is three characteristics. a. Attitude ? "We can do it"

b. Competitiveness - to win against all odds and succeed.

c. Always ask a question - what I will be remembered for?

If a+b+c is practiced, particularly by you, the golden India is possible, at least before the year 2020.

Akshaya Prakash, Class IX, Dev Prayag, Gaddopur (Rural)

3. Sir, In your book "Vision 2020" you mentioned India will be a developed country by 2020. Are we already on the track to realize that vision? What more needs to be done?

Ans. We have 540 million youth power of India is a great resource. The ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource compared to any other resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth.

We are on the track. In many areas we have succeeded. Our economy is growing at the rate of 7% now which is required to be increased to 10%. I am sure, this growth will happen. Younger generation has to work with enthusiasm without any doubt. You have to develop an attitude that "We can do it." Once you develop this attitude, we will definitely succeed.

Vaishali Banerjee, Class XII, St. Mary's Convent

4. Should India invest in space programs when half of its population is below the poverty line?

Ans. Actually 260 million people are below poverty line. That is 26%. Space programme assists national development through connecting the villages, village to cities, states to state and all the state to country and country to world. Remote sensing satellite gives water level of the various reserviours, flood conditions, drought conditions and also maps the resources, and materiological forecast. All the three aspects of the space programme is essential for the national development. It has provided many gains to the farmers. Our communication systems, resource mapping systems, meteorological information systems are all being supported by the space programme. Our EDUSAT is going to make connectivity possible to the remotest villages which will lead to quality education reaching the poor in the villages. Thus the benefits of the space programme reaches the common man. We should perceive this programme. Very soon we will be having a lunar mission. Subsequently we should think of manned missions within the next decade.

Aman Sinha, Class VIIIth, Jagat Taran Jubiliee

5. Sir, it is said future wars will be fought not for territories but for petroleum and water. What is the future plan of India for petroleum and water management?

Ans. The energy independence is possible through three routes.

a. Solar power

b. Nuclear power

c. Bio-fuel

Water management through interlinking of rivers, recycling the water, desalination of sea water.

Arvind Rastogi, Class IX, Dev Prayag, Gaddopur (Rural)

6. It has been said that petroleum will last only for 24 years. But we have the source of solar energy. Can we trap and utilize this by the advance method and technology and how?

Ans. Fuel, gas and coal are all come out of the fossil material. Fossil material is not renewable. Hence as per the world energy forum predicts, after 75 years fuel shortage can start. Fortunately we have solution as I have discussed in earlier questions. For solar power generation, we have to increase the solar cell efficiency from 15% to 50% using nano technology.

Manish Mohanta, Class X, KVS Bhamrauli

7. Today India has developed the scientific brains but still we require services from other countries. Are we not still slaves?

Ans. Every nation in today's world needs something from other country. There are large amount of people coming to India and starting the knowledge industries in India. Similarly, nearly 20 million Indians are settled in other countries. In the knowledge society and competitive world the nations depend on each other. We have to work for a win-win situation.

Naman Srivastava, Class XII, St. Joseph College

8. How do we young children make our elders realize our potential and the fire within us, so that we may not be underestimated?

Ans. As I mentioned to you, how Wright brothers have proved that the

These messages I am communicating, whenever I meet parents in school gathering. Also I remind the parents one couplet, the poet saint Thiruvalluvar, dreaming to children and also parents. Quote:

It means that whatever may be the depth of the river or lake or pond, whatever may be the condition of the water, the lilly flower always comes out and blossoms. Similarly, if there is a definite determination to achieve a goal even if it is impossible to achieve, the person succeeds.

Himanshu Chaurasia, Class IX, Sarswati Vidya Mandir Ucchatar Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Sarvodayanagar

9. Today terrorism is the biggest problem all over the world. It causes a great danger to world peace. In a situation like this what should be our duties and responsibilities?

Ans. For bringing about a stable society we have to ensure that we create enlightened citizenship. Enlightened citizens can be evolved through an integrated methods.

a. Education with value system

b. Religion transforming into a spiritual force

c. Creating the developed economy to defeat the poverty.

Rahul Mishra, Class Xth, Swami Vivekanand Vidya Ashram, Tharwai (Rural)

10. Does the 10th planet "ZEN" which has recently been discovered exist in the universe?

Ans. YES. It exists. We have nine planets for the sun. Universe consists of millions of galaxies. We are the children of Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy has millions and millions of stars. We belong to Solar system sun. Sun has so far had 9 planets. Earth is one of the planet. Recently the 10 planet has been discovered by the NASA. Further details will be known shortly.