GUNTUR: The air inside the auditorium of JKC College on a warm Wednesday afternoon was filled with excitement. The boys and girls, most of them under graduates, were waiting for a training session on life skills to begin. The programme was organised by the Career Guidance Cell of the college. After a brief introduction about the programme by Lecturer in English and coordinator of the cell, Pala Prasada Rao, the training personnel from the Community and Progressive (CAP) Foundation took over the programme. Mr. Prasada Rao said that programmes like these would help boys and girls to develop harmonious personalities. Their main task is to break the silence. The communication barrier which has been tying up the mouths of students should be breached first.

Trainer K. Srinivasa Rao started on a right note. The first question he posed to the students was “How many of you have tasted success?'' The students began to murmur but finally gave up. There was a long pause before Mr. Rao started reeling out a popular anecdote from the life of Greek Philosopher Socrates.” Success is not something seen, it is to be felt and experienced. People who work hard experience success,'' he said. The students have already tasted success because they have passed Class 7 and Class 10 examinations, he said. By now, the students were breathing easy and began communicating. The communication barrier was breached and the interactive session got off to a good start. The next session was a test of listening and application skills of the students. Mr. Rao then narrated a short story and began eliciting answers from the students. The boys and girls were asked to form teams and select one among them as a team leader. They began airing their opinions freely and the air of nervousness gradually gave away into a free wheeling discussion.