The Hindu Business Line : CII Young Indians summit begins in Bangalore today

DR A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM has never failed to tell us: Dream of something and you shall achieve it. For two days from Friday, the `voice and spirit of India's next generation' will be out in strength in Bangalore, talking of its dreams of a developed India.

Among those who will be speaking or listening will be the likes of Sachin Pilot, G.V. Sanjay Reddy, Avantika Dalmia, Rahul Bose, Kartik Sriram, Bhairavi Jani: politicians, corporate leaders and varied professionals taking stock of what ails the country and where it should head.

When the under-40s get down to business, it would be to share experiences and air success stories on education, unemployment, environment, infrastructure, leadership.

The second annual flagship summit of Young Indians, CII's two-year-old youth arm, promises to be power packed, insightful and many-hued.

In December 2002, when CII created a new youth forum, it was because two things moved it — a deep-rooted apathy among the country's youth towards the ills of the country; and yet lurking beneath that, a certain restlessness that cried for an organised platform to try and do something about it, says Mr Narayan Sethuramon, YI Vice-Chairman and summit Chairman.

"YI may have sprung out of an apex industry body but its mandate is to go well beyond business and seek out issues tormenting the country: development, environment, education, unemployment." he says. Its aim is to shape tomorrow's team that dreams of a transformed and developed India by 2020, to shape them into deliverers of that dream.

"Dream, dream, dream, dreams transform into thoughts, and thoughts result in action." The Bangalore summit is based second on the words from the President's book, Ignited Minds.

If the first summit of 2004 in Delhi built up awareness and drove home the message that youth had a major role in the country's future, in the second

"We move into a different plane - of making it happen by taking up micro-level action for issues like unemployment and environment," Mr Sethuramon says.

Today YI is 350-strong with eight chapters in the metros, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Kochi. It will be adding 11 more outfits and spreading wings overseas.

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