Chandigarh: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday advised students not to allow anyone to dictate their course of action, asking them not to be afraid of failure.

Dhankhar made these remarks while addressing a convocation ceremony of Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal Vidyapeeth (JCD) in Sirsa. Haryana minister Ranbir Gangwa, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala, who is president of the Devi Lal Memorial Trust; and INLD MLA Arjun Chautala, who is chairman of JCD Vidyapeeth, were among others present.

At the beginning of his convocation address, Dhankhar told the gathering to always put the nation first, saying, "There can be no interest higher than the national interest. Personal and political interests are insignificant."

Dhankhar called upon the students to choose a career in life according to their interests and aptitudes.

"Allow your life to go like a river and not like a canal... there was a time when a child was born and parents used to decide what career their child has to choose," he said.

Dhankhar told the students that India today offers numerous opportunities to the youth and they must take advantage of it.

"You are in Bharat at a time when no nation in the last decade has grown as fast and as large as Bharat, be it economic upsurge, phenomenal infrastructure growth, digitalisation... Per capita internet consumption of Bharat is more than that of China and USA taken together," he said.

About digital transactions, he said these are four times more than the combined transactions in the USA, UK, France and Germany.

"If we examine our economy that was very fragile a decade ago... today our foreign exchange reserves are over 700 billion.

"You are lucky to be living in times when Bharat is dotted with open possibilities. There is an ecosystem in place, affirmative government policies, hand-holding policies that allow you to exploit your talent and potential and realise your ambitions and aspirations," he told the students.

He said meritocracy prevails now and when that is the scenario, the students must think big.

"Never be under stress, never be under tension. And fear of failure is the worst failure in life because it is a myth, there is nothing like failure. It is an attempt that has not succeeded," he said.

He also told the students not to be startled if they received a setback.

"An occasional failure only improves you," he said.

He told the students that failure allows them to further improve. Many greatest accomplishments in history have never succeeded in the first attempt, he added.

The vice president addressed another event in Sirsa, where he presided as chief guest at the annual convocation of Mata Harki Devi Group of Institutions in Odhan.

Addressing the students in Odhan, Dhankhar said, "Education is the most impactful transformative mechanism to bring about big change, bring about equality, cut into inequities."

At the event, he talked at length about former deputy prime minister Chaudhary Devi Lal, recalling various initiatives he took for the farming community.

Dhankhar also said he has been mentored in politics by "Tau" Devi Lal.

The vice president, who is a law graduate and even practised as an advocate early in his career, recalled, "I still remember the day when I first met Chaudhary Devi Lal ji in Jaipur... When he told me that I had to contest elections, I said I was a pleader (lawyer). He said remove the 'P' and become a leader."

Dhankhar said Devi Lal was not a person but a thought. He gave a historic turn to Indian politics and his thinking and philosophy were dedicated to the villages, the poor and the farmers, the vice president added.

"My political education, political initiation and political philosophy have come from Chaudhary Devi Lal... Coming here is like a pilgrimage for me. The institution in the memory of Chaudhary Devi Lal's wife has a deep significance for me," Dhankhar said.

He invited the students of JCD to visit Parliament and said he would be happy and delighted if they came in the coming session.

Talking about India's progress, the vice president told the students that "no nation in the world has grown as fast with such a big leap as Bharat in the last decade".

"People have tasted development, they have seen development. They are, therefore, in aspirational mode and if people are in aspirational mode, there can be restive situations, there can be restlessness, a problem.

"But that problem has to be addressed by each and every individual. Let me give you certain suggestions. Always, dear boys and girls, put civic duties, fundamental duties over rights," he said.

He asked the students to always nurture their family, teachers, elders, neighbourhood as that is India's civilisational culture.

"Believe in the environment, that is something we are concerned about. An alarmingly worrisome scenario is there. We do not have another Earth to live in," he said.

Earlier, Dhankhar accompanied by his wife Dr Sudesh Dhankhar paid tribute to Chaudhary Devi Lal at the Vidyapeeth in Sirsa.