A splendid sundown!

It was an awe-inspiring evening at the Multipurpose Auditorium of the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, on August 31, 2017.

          Accepting the clarion call of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, the university went on to organise a sundown show of spectacular events under the banner ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi: Yeh India ka time hai’ to mark 70 years of India’s Independence and the 75th year of the Quit India Movement. It started about 4pm with an invocation song by the students and a welcome address by Dr. S. Bhuvaneswari, Registrar, CUTN.
Dr. Bhuvaneswari expressed her delight over CUTN being among the select few institutions of higher education in the country chosen by the MHRD to organise the event. She also stressed on the need to derive inspiration from our great visionary leaders of the past and strive towards achieving sustainable development for all sections.
          In the presidential address that followed, Hon’ble CUTN Vice-Chancellor Prof. A. P. Dash observed that the “new India is young India” and that the equitable development of the country is possible only if the benefits of skill-based education reach the rural pockets. He also highlighted the significance of the government’s initiatives in the domains of digital technology and public health and sanitation. Prof. Dash observed that CUTN, located in a rural hotspot, has a greater role to play in the empowerment of the region, a task which is commendably performed through various organs of the university, including the NSS and the Departments of Social Work and Media and Communication. Thereafter, an oath was administered by Dr. A. Ragupathy, Controller of Examinations, CUTN, where both the students and teachers pledged to work towards building a new India, free of poverty, casteism, communalism, terrorism, corruption and pollution.

          This was followed by an hourlong brainstorming session ‘New India Manthan’ on the topic ‘Empowering the rural populace for a new India by 2022’. During the session, student representatives from various academic schools and departments of CUTN actively participated in the discussion and threw some light on the myriad challenges rural India faces in this time and age as well as deliberated upon possible solutions to address the economic, social, administrative and technological hurdles in the path to holistic national development.
The discussion was moderated by Prof. T. Sengadir, Dean (Academics) and Dr. V. Madhurima, Head of the Department of Physics. This intensive discussion was lightened by a lively and interactive session hosted by RJs from AIR, Trichy, who regaled the audience with light-hearted games and music.

          Capping the day’s programme was a rock concert in which musicians from Pondicherry performed live to an enthralled audience. The patriotic fervour that the musicians brought to the stage cascaded through the assembled audience, who spontaneously and enthusiastically joined in the singing. It was indeed an organic harmony that represented the collective rhythm of the hopes and aspirations of India’s youth today and their indomitable spirit to overcome every obstacle in
the path to realizing their goal of a newer, better India.

          Finally, Prof. S. Nagarajan, Dean (Students’ Welfare), CUTN, delivered the formal vote of thanks, thereby bringing to an end an invigorating evening of a nation-wide celebration that signalled the reinvention of India.