Bhubaneshwar, Odisha — Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay spoke to over 25,000 students at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneshwar, Odhisha on Monday, April 6, 2015. The institute was established as a residential institute for tribal people and now is the largest institute of its kind in the world.
Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay was specially invited by the institute to speak to the students to inspire the pupils who are mostly from backward and tribal areas of the state. He made the most of his inspirational speech by speaking about the importance and impact of hard work and taking control of our own destinies.
"We are all the same whether we are from a village or a city. We should never feel discouraged because we are from a humble background. We all have aspirations and we all have the equal right to pursue it," Sikyong told the students.
"Winning or losing is determined by our attitude. If we feel we can't succeed because we are from a humble background or because we are born in a village, then we have lost even before the battle has begun. So, its imperative that we have a winning attitude in life," Sikyong said.
Sikyong explained that our attitude should be accompanied by a whole-hearted determination to work towards our goal. "This determination would later become our habit and this habit would define our character. This character would eventually lead us to our success. So, you see, success is right in our hands," Sikyong said, encouragingly.
Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay also narrated a brief biography of himself, beginning from his humble background in a remote village in north-eastern India. He shared stories of farm life, his childhood and the effort he put in to reach where he is today.
Sikyong concluded his speech by urging the students to study hard, perform their best in life and then return to serve their society so that others can benefit from their efforts and can have greater opportunities to succeed, like Sikyong himself strives to do.