Leaders become great, not because of their power but because of their ability to empower others.John C Maxwell
It was in January 2013, while I was the treasurer of the Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) Students’ Union, that our cabinet decided to invite the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr Narendra Modi as a keynote speaker at the Business Conclave, the management festival of SRCC.
We encountered extremely varied emotions and reactions from college students, faculty, external student political bodies, media and local political party supporters. However, support at all levels on the one hand, and continuous obstacles and criticism on the other, was something which we had encountered often.
The main thrust behind inviting him amongt the young minds was to have a deeper and better insight of Gujarat’s successful economic model. Since SRCC is a premiere economics and commerce college, it would be useful for students to get a chance to get exposed to different perspectives of business, economy and politics.
Almost the complete strength of the college, faculty, and national/regional media, each with their own opinion and political belief, were present to attend Mr Modi’s speech. The crowd was awestruck and taken by the aura and gravity of his personality. His vision, clarity of thought, style of working and manner of expression ensured the change of many opinions.
Now that we have seen Mr Modi as our Prime Minister for a tenure of two years, it can be observed and concluded that many different aspects have come to the fore. However, it is imperative to understand and accept that change in a country of a billion people will be a process and not an event. Hence, the result would take time.
What is more important is to make people aware of progress in different realms, which definitely has happened. ‘Make in India’, positioning India globally, Swachh Bharat Campaign and providing a more conducive ecosystem for entrepreneurship are a few examples to support the fact.
I believe there is a lot of hope for India and its future as a better country. However, the time has also arrived for some visible changes to happen to make the people observe and experience the progressive development that they have been expecting for quite some time.
(The writer was the treasurer of SRCC Students’ Union, 2012-2013)
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