Leading Tamil actor Karthi attended the Agaram Foundation 44th Award Ceremony on Sunday, July 16, along with his father Sivakumar, and brother Suriya, and one of the major highlights of the morning was his speech in which he cited the big differences between the students studying in a city backdrop compared to the education in villages. Speaking at the event organized by the Sri Sivakumar Educational & Charitable Trust, the Ponniyin Selvan star said, "It is important to understand where a student is studying and how he's able to get the marks. When compared with a student studying in Madras along with extra tuition, a student in a small village who has to walk 10 km to school... I've heard several stories and one among them is of a student who has to walk down the hills and then walk another four km to school. After finishing special classes, if the student is late, he/she will not be able to go back home. That student will then have to sleep on the veranda of a house on their way back home because there will be bears and elephants in the hills. In spite of that, if a student is completing studies and becomes a nurse, it is a really big achievement. Despite all of these obstacles, if a student is getting an education and accomplishes big, their achievement is an even bigger thing."
Karthi continued, "We cannot draw comparisons between a student studying in Madras and getting 100 marks, and a student with little facilities in villages and remote areas. Those 50 marks are quite big. It is then that we decided to choose such students and award them with prizes for their hard work and they also include the children of our brothers from Sri Lanka. This prize money and this encouragement for them is to only tell them that we are here to hold their hands and always support them."
Karthi also shared words of encouragement and said, "It is not just about the prize money. Don't let go of your belief. What you keeping think, will come to you one day. Keep pursuing that and do not fear for anything. You can face anything and achieve. Don't get distracted since there are so many things that will take away your attention compared to when we were back in college. And, the students who you all see here today are the ones who didn't get distracted. I'm not sure how much interest the students in the city have in Tamil, but all the students coming from villages write poetry. I feel jealous that they all can write poetry so nicely. Their interest in Tamil and the energy they have in life has never been less."
Watch Karthi's motivational speech at the Agaram Foundation 44th Award Ceremony below:
