REPORT OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD DAY 2010
Vishwa Adhyayan Kendra (VAK) celebrated the Universal Brotherhood Day
(U B Day 2010) on Friday 27th August 2010. The function was held at the Galaxy Hall of MIG Club, Bandra East, Mumbai from 6 to 8.30 pm.
The reception area and the auditorium were beautifully decorated with rangoli giving a colourful and festive look.
Rakhis were tied to all the guests on arrival. After registrations guests were served refreshments.
Shri K. Narassimhan, CEO of CommIT Group was the MC of the programme and conducted the proceedings very professionally by his superlative skills in communication.
Shri Sanjay Kelapure, President of VAK in his Welcome Address highlighted the objectives of the VAK. He mentioned that VAK organises the U B Day every year to foster friendship and goodwill with various consulates and foreign nationals in Mumbai. He concluded that VAK aspires to become a think-tank that wishes to give a Bharat-centric outlook and an alternative viewpoint on international issues.
Shri Vishal Chavda, Coordinator - U B Day 2010 Paper Presentation Competition, informed about the Paper Presentation Competition (PPC) which was held among students of Technology, Management and International Studies from 27 institutions of Mumbai on the topic 'Challenges to Universal Brotherhood '. He also introduced the panel of judges viz. Dr. Satish Modh, Dr. Madhavi Pethe and Shri Nitin Raut.
Dr.Madhavi Pethe, Principal of M. L. Dahanukar College summarized her feelings about the competition and also shared her opinion about the views expressed by the participants.
"I am happy to note from the views expressed by the participants in the PPC that they too are concerned about the burning issues of today whereas the general perception about the youth is they are self oriented and self focused. One participant has stressed the need for maintaining human bonds and feelings of brotherhood with the help of education and more importantly IT."
"I am reminded of Martin Luther King's famous quote that tells that we all are trapped in an inescapable web of mutuality and only by being helpful mutually can we help ourselves." she concluded.
Shri Ajit Doval and Prof. Vijay Page later distributed certificates and cash prizes to the winners of PPC.
Shri Venkati Muthappa, second year PGDM student from MET who bagged the first prize presented the synopsis of his paper.
He felt that the only solution one can think of in the present food crisis is pooling resources available all over the world and providing them to the needy. This is one form of "Universal Brotherhood" where the concern for the fellow human beings goes beyond the territorial boundaries he said. He added that with the quality of appreciating diversity being the hallmark of Indian value system, Bharat can be the front-runner of not only upholding but spreading the value of Universal Brotherhood.
The Keynote Address was given by Shri Ajit Doval - a highly decorated police officer who had an illustrious career and retired as Director, Intelligence Bureau.
He started saying that be it the faith based religions or the science based theories like Darwin's Theory or Primordial Soup Theory, we are increasingly converging to the idea that the entire living beings including human beings came from the same evolutionary process and hence have same heritage.
"When we talk of Universal Brotherhood as a value system that can end the sufferings, strife and conflicts that we see all around us, we are operating on a presumption. The presumption is that, the cause of the entire conflict is due to the fact that we have forgotten that we are brothers and sisters after all."
"We believe it is a crisis of knowledge about our commonality, our ancestry and our progeny that is causing this infirmity and if you spread the message of universal brotherhood, this infirmity will cease to exist and if the infirmity ends; that will bring in peace, prosperity and development. As a logical thought it looks very correct."
"Most of us formulate our ideas based on logical thoughts and not on empirical data. Actually, more of bloodshed in this world has happened among those who knew each other and not among strangers." he exclaimed.
"River Mother Ganga is pure and we cannot purify it further what needs to be done is just stop pollutants and sewage water getting mixed with it. Universal brotherhood too is a value that is noble but will not succeed until we identify, stop, fight, kill, conquer and succeed over the forces that vitiate the values of universal brotherhood."
