18th September, 2013, the students of iLead had the rare opportunity of interacting face to face with His Excellency Sri Prasad Kariyawasam, Shri Lankan Ambassador to India at the Dale Carnegie Auditorium in iLead Campus.
Sri. Prasad Kariyawasam has been the High Commissioner for Sri Lanka to India since December 2009. He has also held diplomatic assignments in various other countries throughout the world including Geneva, Riyadh, Washington, Ney York and New Delhi.
Shri Prasad talked to the students as if he was talking to the children of his own nation, addressing issues faced by both the nations and how India and Sri Lanka share the same history and culture, and how they are different yet very similar to each other. He also talked about how Sri. Lanka has overcome their problems of terrorism in the past and how they are on a steady growth path, with a literacy rate of 93% and a rising standard of living with a high Per Capita income.
He also explained how they overcame illiteracy, by educating females, which has helped in the overall steady rise in literacy as females are the key to any society. This received immediate applause from the audience.
“Delhi is like my home away from home”, he said in response to a question about. favorite destination. “After New Delhi it is Washington”, he added.
There were several more questions from the bunch of inquisitive college students, ranging from the entertainment industry to the cross-employability of Indians and Sri Lankans and the credibility of the portrayal on Sri Lanka in the recent Bollywood flick Madras Café.
It was overall a very engaging and enlightening session, leaving the minds of the young audience more opened up to world affairs.
About ILEAd:
Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development (Ilead) is one of the premier Media and Management School of Kolkata having world class infrastructure excellent teaching and non teaching staff and is using latest educated technologies and is affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) and is located in the heart of the City. To know more about Ilead one can visit www.ilead.net.in.