December 12th is marked as the ‘National Youth Day’ by the government of India to celebrate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the day holds a lot of importance for the youth of India
‘’I have faith in my country, and especially in the youth of my country. My hope is in you. With an immense amount of feeling and enthusiasm in the blood, will come heroes who will march from one corner of the earth to the other, preaching and teaching the eternal spiritual truths of our forefathers. And this is the great work before you. Each one of you has a glorious future if you dare believe me’’, told by Swami Vivekananda, the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Mission. The west knew him for his ‘Vedanta’ philosophy and India knew him as a wandering monk, who has awakened us to new spiritual consciousness. He had immense faith in the power of youth and for that he is known as ‘the maker of modern India’. In 1984, the government of India has declared December 12th as ‘National Youth Day’ or ‘Yuva Diwas’ to celebrate his birthday.
Youth as the powerhouse
As per his philosophy, youth holds the power of a nation and more than 40% of our population defines the age group of 16-30 years. The youth of any nation is regarded as the potential powerhouse. If we use the power in constructive channels, it would lead to the great development and prosperity. The hard-work, honesty and dedication of youths can be seen in many fields of life in India. Remember the sacrifices made by martyrs like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Kanaklata and Chandrashekhar Azad, or look around and see a few random names written in the newspapers. The power of youth can be sighted by mentioning only a few names. Most of the celebrated names in arts, culture and sports are dominated by youths in India- Sachin Tendulkar, Vishwanathan Anand, Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati, Sushmita Sen, Anju B George, Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Apama Popat, Malleshwari and Mary kom etc. to name a few. All of our hearts filled with pride when we start mentioning their names.
Empowering the Youth
How to utilize this powerhouse and implement it in the right direction for the progression of our country? Education is the best possible answer! By education, we mean quality education which can provide them the correct amount of knowledge to become logical, open-minded, self respecting, honest and patriotic. These are some of the most important virtues we need to concentrate upon. Without these, our youth would become direction-less and their energy can tip over to the other side to use in the destructive elements.
We are living in a progressive era, where new inventions are touching our lives every day. Some of which are good and some which are as bad as negative elements. When it comes to making a choice in life, we have to make sure that our youths are choosing it carefully. There are lots of countries in the world which are suffering because the youths have taken the path of terrorism and retaliation due to unavoidable political scenarios. Today’s youths are very much demanding and angry. They never hesitate to make their own stands in any of the given circumstances. We as teachers or preachers, should take our responsibilities seriously to show them the right directions.
As Swami Vivekanda said, ’’ this is the time to decide your future while you possess the energy of youth, not when you are worn out and jaded, but with the freshness and vigor of youth’’. Let us celebrate the power of youth in positive directions, let’s use their ideas constructively for the betterment of our nation. Let our policies flow in such ways, which aims at empowering them in the right directions. As a premier educational institute, let us provide them the freedom of thoughts, through which they can embark the journey of knowledge and self-enlightenment.
