You have been working so hard – most of you were practicing while the organizing committee has been spending sleepless nights to make EnGenia a grand success. I appreciate your efforts and your team work. After completing the off-stage events, we are coming to the finale, namely the on-stage events. Let me share with you what the Jesuits have done for the stage, I mean, for dramatics and for culturals. The Jesuits wrote ratio studiorum, that is, pedagogy of studies in 1599. In the Jesuit pedagogy, dramatics, especially the annual drama, played a major role and the Jesuits’ another contribution is the sheer curtain, which you might have been in yester years on the stage. When they established the Jesuit Republics in the South Americas to set the slaves free they found out that the natives were musically gifted. So, they taught them music both native and western. The Jesuits found that nurturing culturals would develop the innovative thinking of the people and that would pave the way easily get integrated with other cultures and peoples.
We learn from most of the on stage programs many things: We begin to see the purpose of the event and we build up passion to master and excel in it. Till we become expert in it we persevere rain or shine and finally we reach perfection. At that point we begin to contribute to the wealth of innovation already in existence.
The entire process could be labelled as originating from the so called Two-Minute-Rule, that is, moving on from very easy to easy to moderate to difficult to more difficult task to perform or to master and achieve. For example, running a marathon is very hard. Running a 5 Km is hard. Walking ten thousand steps is moderately difficult. Walking ten minutes is easy. Putting on your running shoes is the easiest. So you begin to put on your running shoes and tie the strings to start with. As you get interested and as you take efforts, you move up doing more difficult works with ease and comfort. This is the same with any cultural items, such as singing, dancing etc.
If we keenly observe the cultural events and one’s active participation in them, we can understand how culturals build up our creativity. The individual participants are from different cultural, linguistic, religious groups but they come together to put up an event in harmony and unison. This makes one keep up the uniqueness or individuality and at the same time build up unity from what is common for all, even if it is minimum. Here the potential of each one is pooled together to find something unique, innovative, and meaningful to all.
There are advantages in pooling together our cultural heritage:
- Diverse cultural perspectives can inspire creativity and drive innovation;
- Cultural sensitivity and insight bring in better tolerance and understanding;
- Drawing from a culturally diverse talent-pool allows an organization to attract and retain the best talent; and
- Greater opportunity for personal and professional growth is possible.
Now, should engineers get interested in music and culturals? There is a wide range from film world, to politics, to music, and to comic strips, who were engineers. The famous movie director Alfred Hitchcock was an engineer before becoming director of suspense and psychological thriller movies, such as Lifeboat, The Wrong Man, Dial M for Murder, Suspicion etc. Indeed, it was his ability to think like an engineer that gave the film making pioneer his edge. Tom Scholz, musician and song writer, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT (Massachussetts Institute of Technology). In our own Kollywood world, we have Actor Sivakarthikeyan, who did his Mechanical Engineering in J.J. College of Engineering and Technology in Trichy. Actor Prasanna was an EEE student in Saranathan Engineering College in Trichy. Actor Arya earned his engineering degree from Crescent Engineering College in Vandalur. Actor Karthi has both BE in Mechanical Engineering and ME in Industrial Engineering. Director-Actor Gautham Menon graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Mookambigai College of Engineering in Pudukottai. There are many more film world celebrities who began their career as engineers. Engineers become better professionals as they are precision-people.
Engineering is a great profession. You are trained in keen observation and precision science leading you through the fascination of imagination, through the aid of science, to move into realization in concrete. This not only elevates the standards of living but also adds to the comforts of life. This is, again, the privilege of an engineer. Even in EnGenia, as engineering students, you tend to be professional in whatever you do, whether singing or dancing or acting.
You may be surprised to know that the Jesuits run a Hollywood production company by name Loyola Productions, a non-profit production company, in Culver City, California. The science-fiction novel The Sparrow (M.D. Russel, 1996) describes a Jesuit who captures musical notes from the space. He undertakes a space travel, explores and identifies the people who make music and builds up inter-terrestrial contact. They developed the native music in their Reductions, which were also called as Jesuit Republics in South America.
LICET also creates an opportunity to discover and develop your hidden or innate talents. EnGenia is one such opportunity. The other is the recent staff and student start up, namely, Sound Engineering. This is an opportunity for those engineering students who are interested and talented in music. You try to make use of all opportunities as they create and enhance self-esteem and self-confidence. Wish you all the best in your events. Enjoy your participation irrespective of results.
Now, I am happy to declare open EnGenia on-stage programs.
Francis P Xavier SJ
22Apr2022