Write speeches on the following topics. 1. Advantages of Education 2. Equality : A Blessing

1. Duties of an Ideal Citizen

Respected chief guest Dr. Ashok Pillai, our Principal Dr. Pradeep Sanghvi, teachers and my dear friends, 

Good Evening ! I am Mayank Gala, a member of the NSS unit of our college. It is indeed a matter of pride for me to share my views on the topic ‘Duties of an Ideal Citizen.’ in front of an august gathering. ‘Duties of an ideal citizen’ according to me, has become a necessity for everyone to be aware of in the present situation of our country.

The first question that comes to my mind at this moment is “Who is an ideal citizen?” Is it a person who is honest, knows his responsibilities and values, respects others needs, is conscious of taking care of the environment and thus contributing to the society in general making it a better place to stay? , Yes, an ideal citizen ideally should have all these qualities.

I personally feel that an ideal citizen should not consider his duties as obligations and fulfill them on his own urge. If all of us make a sincere effort to carry on with our jobs, the society is bound to prosper. Since we all are members of the society, to make it exemplary is our duty. We need to remember this at every step we take in our lives and things will fall into their own places.

Here, I can give some examples which all of us can do easily. I know that there are big words like trustworthiness, honesty, courtesy, respecting the rights of others as well as laws, and these are the personal traits of an ideal citizen. But I want to give you a simple list of things which all of us can follow easily.

My list begins with a simple task of not littering the environment, followed by, conserving water, encouraging greenery in our housing societies, wearing helmets and also encouraging our pillons to wear one, maintaining dignity of all the communities and last but not the least, paying taxes on time.

Of course, the list will be longer than this. But “well begun is half done”. And the most important things, I remind all of us again that the “charity begins at home” So, let’s start! 

I thank the organizers to give me an opportunity to talk to all of you. I am also grateful to each and every person in the audience for their patient hearing. I am convinced that we can full fill our dreams of having an ideal society. 

Thank you !

2. Merits of Democracy

Respected judges and my dear friends, I am Sandeep Agarwal wishing all of you a very good afternoon.

Today, I am going to talk on ‘Merits of Democracy’ I am sure, we all remember the definition Abraham Lincoln gave of democracy that it is “Government of the people, for the people and by the people”. In short, I can say that democracy is rule of the people. 

So, what can be the merits of the rule of the people? The first merit that immediately comes to my mind is that recognizes the strength of people’s will which is expressed through their elected representatives sitting in the Parliament.

A true democracy limits the power of these representatives and they have to strictly follow the constitution which again cannot be altered or amended except through right procedural process.

This is, I feel, the merit of democracy, where every effort is made to prevent the accumulation of power in the hands of any particular individual.

This leads us to the fact that the foremost demand of democracy is free and fair election. Every voter not only has access to the voting machine but secrecy of his vote has to be strictly maintained. Liberty, equality, fraternity are the three pillars of a good democracy and in a proper democratic situation it must be followed religiously.

Unless these principles are sincerely maintained, how will people who are an integral part of democracy, get assurance of safety, security as well as courage to express their views/ problems freely? Here comes the win of democracy over dictatorship where people do not have freedom of speech.

The role of unbiased press and then freedom of expression are urgent necessities so that they can reach a large number of people’s opinion to the government to judge the pros and cons of their decisions. The Parliament proceedings should be open to the public so that they can see how their elected representatives are behaving. In a true democracy, the people have the power of rejecting their representatives and that is their best safeguard.

But, I am sure you will all agree with me that no electoral system can be fool-proof and perfect democracy can be found in the utopia of poets and dreamers. We have to be satisfied with the nearest maintenance of the sanctity of democracy. Democracy is an evolutionary process. So, it is not wrong on our part to expect the scope for modification and change in the light of experience. 

In conclusion, I request all of you to keep your hopes and expectations alive not only to have a true democracy in our country but to maintain its merits also. I thank our Cultural Forum team for giving me the opportunity to speak in front of an august audience. Thank you for your patient hearing !

3. Advantages of Education

Respected judges and my dear friends, 

Good afternoon! I am Deepak Shah and my topic for today’s elocution competition is ‘Advantages of Education’. 

As I was thinking about the topic, two immediate questions that came to mind are, “How and when does education begin? Does it start when a child goes to school or learn alphabet? Looking around, I get a strong ’NO’ as answer. I believe, education begins with the Mother’s encouraging work, father’s words of praise and approval, sibling’s sympathy, help and sometimes fights even, with the gathering of flowers from the garden, with the chirping of the birds and last but not the least in the company of friends. Thus, the child learns to feel, observe, receive and remember as his mind opens out.

The ultimate aim of education, I know, everyone will agree, is to develop all the faculties of a person physical, mental or moral. Education needs to help a person to be true to his own self as Shakespeare said, “To thy own self, be true.” Book-bound education limits a person. Rabindranath Tagore showed us the way at Shantiniketan how education would make a complete personality.

The true objective of education is to train the mind , to build confidence, to judge the good and bad of the things. I feel, the least advantage of education is to create the right temperament needed at the right time. I must include here the need for physical education since “A sound mind can only exist in a sound body” The harmony among mental, physical and moral learning can only supply the proper benefits of education.

To talk about the advantages of education, standing in front of so many educators, is not a small task. This has been possible because of my teachers who have been facilitators of giving me confidence to go ahead with my aspirations. This has been the advantage of my education, I believe and I salute my teachers for that.

I thank the judges, the Cultural forum team once again and all my dear friends and teachers sitting in the audience for their patient hearing which gave me the courage to present my views.

4. Equality : A Blessing

Respected dignitaries on the dais, our honourable guests, my teachers and my dear friends,

Good afternoon to you all ! I am Deepali Doshi who is fortunate to be selected as one of the speakers to represent our college for the seminar organized by our college on the topic ‘Equality : A Blessing’.

‘Equality : A Blessing’ – one of the topics which is very close to my heart. From my childhood, I have enjoyed the situation of ‘no discrimination’ at home by my parents. I always thought of this as a natural things to happen.

I grew up and faced the big world. I started understanding the value and necessity of equal opportunity in the society. How a person uses that opportunity depends on his/her capabilities and the situations he/she faces in life. Ideally, equality means that all citizens are equal before the law, allowed to exercise the franchise, are entitled to fulfill equal rights and duties prescribed in the constitution. That leads to a levelling process which is definitely a blessing.

I must admit here, equality needs to be maintained at various levels like having social equality, political equality, economic equality and of course equality of opportunity and education. Social equality is an urgency for peaceful co-existence as it refers to the absence of discrimination of caste, creed, colour, clans, groups and classes.

Who can deny the benefits of this? Political equality gives access to all citizens similar political rights. We the people of India have the benefits of Universal Adult Franchise which gives us the right to elect our representatives to run the government the way we deserve it.

Economic equality is a dream-like situation where each citizen is provided equal opportunity to make economic progress. Practically, that seems difficult but a responsible government definitely makes an attempt to fulfill it to a large extent. Equal right to education is the birthright of every citizen. I know, everybody in this hall will say in unison with me, ‘Education is the great equalizer… opening doors of opportunity for all.’

I have tried to talk about various equalities and the ideal situations to provide them. But the toughest job is to make equality, a blessing in real life, though each one of us wishes for it. To make it a reality is the joint responsibility of the government and we, the people.

I enjoyed talking to such an alert and responsible audience. Thank you for all your patient hearing.

5. Freedom of Speech

Respected judges, my teachers and my dear friends, 

Good Evening ! I am Pooja Banerji. I am going to talk on ‘Freedom of Speech’.

‘Freedom of speech’ is an oft-quoted expression these days. Everyday wants to enjoy this freedom but in the process, knowingly or may be unknowingly, disturbs the peace in the society.

If freedom of speech is so powerful that it is capable of disturbing the peace in an otherwise stable society, then let me find out the answers to the questions like, “What is freedom of speech and what is the ideal situation to use this freedom?” I am sure, we all are bothered by these questions often because many times, some utterances in the name of freedom of speech, spread like wild fire, making the situations go out of hand.

We know that the constitution of India provides this fundamental right to the general public as well as the media to express their ideas and opinions freely. Like India, this right is provided by some other countries also but with some limitations.

But can’t freedom of speech be used positively? Constructive criticism is always welcome and is also needed to keep a person or the government under check since all activities are closely monitored.

With freedom comes responsibility. This license should not be misused to excite others and invite unwanted problems. When we get to enjoy the rights we need to respect it so that it does not spoil the peace and harmony of the society. These days, a common practice of spreading half-truths has become rampant just to create sensation. This, in the name of freedom of speech, causes serious harm and self-discipline, according to me, is the only remedy.

All good things have their positives and negatives and one should know how the use of them should not become liabilities. I want to conclude with a request to everyone that basic humanity should not be forgotten in the pretext of using the fundamental rights of freedom of speech. I join Tracy Morgan to tell all of you, “We have freedom of speech but you got to watch what you say”. 

Thank you all for allowing my freedom of speech and giving it a patient hearing.

6. Unity in Diversity

Respected judges, my teachers and my dear friends,

Good Morning ! I am Gauri Arora and I am fortunate that I have been assigned the job of talking on a topic, ‘Unity in Diversity’.

For the inter-collegiate elocution competition organized by our college. Here I am standing on the podium of a hall which is self-explanatory of ‘Unity in Diversity’. We can see very clearly that people of different religious beliefs, may be caste and creeds, languages, cultures , dresses, and diverse lifestyles as well as eating habits are harmoniously sitting under one roof.

‘Unity in Diversity’ is an expression which is frequently referred to when one talks of India. We, the Indians, are children of one mother, Mother India and that unites us on the principle of brotherhood. I am sure, my friends sitting over there, have ever bothered about caste, religion, social status of the person sitting next to them. That is, in other words, we can call national integration, in the true sense of the term.

India has won its freedom from the British rule of 200 years and the freedom fighters never bothered about their diversities. They all had one mantra in life and that was to free Mother India from the shackles of British rule.

We carry on that tradition after so many years of our independence. India is the land of festivals irrespective of culture, language, rituals, faiths, we are lost in the celebration forgetting completely the existence of our own origin.

One may ask, “How is it possible in the midst of so many diversities?” My answer to such questions will be “Its possible because we respect our togetherness. How can we forget the benefits of safeguarding this unity? It protects our heritage and in the process attracts tourism. The foreigners feel amased with the existence of so many traditions, cuisines, clothings, languages and of course the diverse gifts of Mother Nature.

I feel, the biggest benefit of ‘Unity in Diversity’ is the protection of human rights of all. This gives the citizens confidence of having safety at workplace and automatically encourages healthy teamwork that ultimately leads to progress.

Every coin has two sides, so has the principle of unity. It is an utopian idea to think that there is no social tension because of these diversities. But they can be tactfully handled by the authorities for getting global recognition and most importantly safety and security of our nation.

We all know the age-old saying, ‘United we stand, Divided we fall’ Today, my dear young friends, I am quoting J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, “ we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided” I am sure you all believe her and take it as a maxim to protect the principle of ‘Unity and Diversity’ which is so unique for our country. I want to express my gratitude to Cultural Forum for selecting me to talk on a topic so close to my heart.