Rotary celebrates Swami Vivekananda’s birthday

CHENNAI: To celebrate Swami Vivekananda’s birthday and National Youth Day, the Rotary Club of Madras Midtown conducted a leadership training programme along with Sri Ramakrishna Math for college students on Friday. Many eminent personalities addressed students from 12 colleges in the ideals of Swami Vivekananda.

The programme began with a prayer by bramhmacharis and recitation of the sayings of Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita by students of Vidhya Mandir. Usha Kumar, president, Rotary Club of Madras Midtown, welcomed the gathering. “To walk in the path of Swami Vivekananda, a path of knowledge, is a great achievement in life,” she said. R Srinivasan, district governor, RI, was the chief guest.

A panel discussion on leadership was held. The moderator was M Keshav, founder, CEO, Mantra. Olivannan, Emerald Publishers, Chitra Ravi, educator and founder-CEO, Charysalis, Chennai, and P Srinivasan, motivational speaker were the panelists. They mainly focussed on how to become a leader.
What’s the ABC of success according to Swami Vivekananda? “Always Be Confident is the mantra. Inspiration and motivation is the key to success,” said Keshav.

Olivannan discussed business ethics and Chitra spoke about the importance of education. “Education should not just mean to get a job or earn money...it is much more beyond it,” she said .

The programme was followed by a special address on career choices by Ramesh Prabha, educationalist. “A leader is not a manufacturer. A leader should be able to do any work. He/ she should never hesitate; it is one quality every one of us should let go of,” he said. The discussion was followed by an interactive session.

Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj, president, RK Math, was also present.