 This is the boring part, right? We've got a sports week coming up. I was with a student like you, looking forward to the sports week for the whole year. And then they get these god knows from where this people has not given you speeches and lectures. So this is the boring part. Apologies for that. But now that you've got me here, you've got to tolerate me. The chairperson, principal of Petso College, director of Petso College, my good friend, secretary of the Nagaland Olympic Association, secretary of the Nagaland Cricket Association, Mr. Anilo King, my good friend, Mr. Sen Gupta from the United Kingdom, high commissioner's office Kolkata, faculty members of Petso College, my friends from the media, special invitees, the entire family of Petso College, ladies and gentlemen. At a very outset, I give praise and thanks to Almighty God for this beautiful morning, for this wonderful occasion and for this fantastic institution. I bring greetings from the chief minister of Nagaland, Mr. Nipurio. I bring greetings from the sports fraternity of the state, and I bring greetings from the athletic federation of India to each one of you. I thank the management and the administration of Petso College for inviting me to this institution. I've been wanting to come to Petso College for quite some time. It's a college that's an institution that stands out, not just in Nagaland, but I think it's one of the best higher education institutions in the whole of the Northeast. It's an institution that is out of the box with progressive leadership. And I find as an external observer following you on social media, reading about you in newspapers, and getting to know about the achievements of the students from here, I find that this institution keeps pushing the envelope, keeps pushing boundaries. And even this morning, as we're attending this program, the two young students who sang the beautiful song and the response that all of you are giving to the speakers, I think it's a fantastic environment and a wonderful campus atmosphere that you have here. I just stay nearby here in Sovima, and I keep crossing the street, and every time I cross this street, I kind of appreciate and like the ambience and the atmosphere that this college has. And I can feel as I sit in my car and cross fire, sometimes as I walk and jog across the street, I can feel the energy of this place. Though I've never been here, I like that your college. And now that I'm here, I'm going to consider myself family from here on. So thank you once again for having me this morning. You've invited me for a sports week and also being my first time here. I really don't know where to start. And as I said, this is the boring part, which you've got to tolerate and wait for it to get over. That two colleges, as I said, has been leaving from the front all these years. And I hope this attitude will continue. Sport has the power to unify. Sport has the power to allow you to excel in whatever you want to do. It has the power to propel you to the international stage overnight. You know what? The FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games bring together more nations, more countries than even the United Nations organization. Sport knows no language, understands no barriers, overcomes all hurdles. While the politics of the world divides, the power of sport brings people together, brings people closer, nations together. Today, we're all watching the FIFA World Cup, enjoying the football matches in the evenings. More than 200 countries set out to qualify to get into the World Cup. More than 200 countries came under the banner of the FIFA World Cup to get to Qatar. The political regimes of America and Iran keep fighting every day. But you saw how USA and Iran played that wonderful football match and spread the spirit of unity and oneness. In 1987, as India and Pakistan continued to face off with each other, the Reliance World Cup unified the subcontinent and brought the tricketing world to this part of the world. Sport unifies. Why do I say that? Because you are sportspersons. Here in Texo College, one day to represent Nagaland, one day to represent India, you are ambassadors of unity. You will become ambassadors of unity by playing sport and following a passion you like. As college students, as young people, this is the time to dream. As human beings and students, we all have dreams. But the most exciting and realistic time to dream is now for you. Because this is a time to strive towards those dreams and those aspirations. Dreams and aspirations are realized only when you put your efforts into it. And that effort is through education, school, college, university. These are the platforms and the infrastructure and the ecosystem that enables you to begin and execute those efforts. Your investment of now, your efforts of now will determine whether you will reach those dreams or whether you will surpass those aspirations one day. This morning, Barack Obama, former US President, is the inspiration behind what I will share with you as I share a few thoughts with young people of Texo College. Let me tell you that every one of you has something special and something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer to the world. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what you're good at. And that opportunity is provided by education, by the schools and the colleges that you go to. You may be a very talented writer, capable of writing great books, newspaper articles. But you won't know it unless you put in that English paper, unless you do that English assignment. You may be a gifted artist, a pianist, a basketball player, a good footballer. But you won't know until you participate in the sports week. You could become an inventor, an innovator, a surgeon, a vaccine creator. But you won't know it until you put in that project and your assignment in science class. Some of you here could be a good leader in future, a potential politician, a lawyer or a judge. But you won't know whether you're good in that if you don't join the student council or participate in the debate. Whatever you want to be in life, you need education to get there. You cannot drop out of school, you cannot drop out of college and get the job you want. If you want to become a great doctor, a pioneering engineer, a groundbreaking architect, it's only through education that you will get there. Even a great musician, a sports person, you need to put in the effort to the educational system that you have. This is not only important for you alone. I want to tell you that this morning. But it's important for our people and for our state and for the future of Nagaland. Because the future of Nagaland, depending on you, students in every corner of Nagaland, not just in Texo College, students in Monk, in Woka, in Nagalimura, in Kifre, in Kohima, you are the future of Nagaland. What you learn today and empower yourself with to these institutions is what Nagaland will be tomorrow. Nagaland can face its challenges of the future through you. And for that you will need the education you gain in science class, in maths class, so that tomorrow you can cure cancer and get a vaccine for AIDS. You will need to understand history, political science, ethics and morality in humanity subjects, so that tomorrow we can have good, honest, transparent government in Nagaland. You will need to learn geography, biology and social sciences and humanities, so that you can protect the environment tomorrow and overcome tribalism in Nagaland tomorrow. We need each one of you to develop your talents and your skills so that the Nagaland of tomorrow is much better than the Nagaland of today when pursuing our aspirations also face challenges. Everyone has challenges. There will be times when you are down and out. There will be times when you feel low. You will get into trouble as students. We all get into trouble and you will fail. We will all fail. We do face failure. Life also offers chances, second chances. So you got to grab those second chances. But also keep in mind that chances don't come very often. Sometimes they just come once. All of us are born with privileges and opportunities. And the failure that you experience today will build you up for tomorrow. We all have challenges to overcome, second chances to grab. And I want to tell you that there are no excuses for not trying to have to put in the efforts. Where you are right now with your problems and the lack of privileges should not determine where you will be tomorrow. Keep in mind that you and you alone will write your own destiny. You will determine your own future. Barack Obama did not have a father to bring him up. Her mom did not have enough money to send him to a good school. But he went on to become America's first black president. He refused to give up. Don't ever choose to give up. Choose to fight on. Don't give up on education. Don't deny yourself the opportunity to empower yourself. Always keep in mind that there are no shortcuts to success. Being successful is hard. It is hard. And in school and college, not every teacher is fantastic. You won't score high in every assignment. But you still got to keep working hard. JK Rowling, writer of Harry Potter series. Her transcripts got rejected two or five times before she became what she is today. Michael Jordan once said, I failed and lost over and over again, again and again. That's why I succeeded. Don't let failure determine you and your future. Rather, let your failure determine what you will be tomorrow and how you will do things differently. Next time, if you get bad grades or if you don't win the tournament, just know that you've got to put in more hard work. No one is born with being good at everything. We're not born good at everything. So you have to put in the work. You have to run that extra mile. You have to sweat that extra bucket. You have to burn that midnight oil. Then you'll succeed. We expect all of you to do great things, each one of you. Nagaland expects each student to do great things. So don't let us down. Don't let your loved ones down. Don't let your mom and dad down. Because it's only through you that the future of Nagaland will change. We want you to go out there, put in your best efforts and make Nagaland proud. Make all of us proud. Because if you fail, Nagaland's going to fail. The future of the state rests upon your shoulders. And today I want to tell you this morning that we have hope in you. We have confidence in you. I want you to have the courage to take on life. I want you to know in your mind that impossible is nothing. Dreams are meant to be fulfilled and I'll get out there and achieve what I aspire to be. Thank you very much for listening. God bless all of you.