VELLORE:‘Dreaming of positive change is easy, making it happen is difficult,’ said 32-year old Thinlas Chorol, a former ice-hockey player turned social-entrepreneur from Ladakh, while receiving the ‘VIT Person of the Year-The Weekend Leader Award’ at a function held at the Anna Auditorium in VIT University on Wednesday. The award carried a citation and a cash prize of Rs 25,000.
Braving challenges posed in a male-dominated society in the hill-state, she was able to establish an all-women travel company to cater to women tourists by promoting cultural trekking and eco-tourism. Thanking VIT and the Weekend Leader web magazine for recognising her work that gave livelihood opportunities of the region through community tourism and home stays to women who usually face social taboos at work, she said she had evolved from being a mere tourist guide to a social-entrepreneur. ‘If you want to change society, we need to be the change’ she told the audience.
Chief guest K Vijayakumar, Special Security Advisor, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India while complimenting Thinlas for making an impact on society, opined that only people with inspiration could inspire others. He advised students to attain heights and create a reputation that will be a part of their legacy. Underlining the need for the Indian media to play a positive role to make India progress in the right direction, VIT Chancellor G Viswanathan said rather than giving news about cinema, crime and cricket, the media should give positive news so that people are aware of the good things happening around them.