Editor,
Children’s Day is celebrated in India every year with great enthusiasm on the 14th of November. It is celebrated by the teachers and students in the schools and colleges with great passion and excitement. It is celebrated worldwide on November 20 every year. The date was chosen to celebrate childhood. Prior to 1959, Children’s Day was universally celebrated in the month of October. The date, November 20, was chosen as it marks the anniversary of the day in 1959 when the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
Children’s Day was observed on November 20 in India too. But after the demise of our beloved Prime Minister, Shri Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, it has been changed to November 14, the date which marks his birth anniversary. Nehru’s birthday was chosen because of his love for children, and the passion he had for their welfare. Children’s Day celebration is a tribute to childhood. John F. Kennedy, United States’ 35th President has quoted it rightly by saying, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.
Children are totally dependent on their guardians to provide for them in all areas possible and when this is not done, they grow up believing that the world is a cruel place where no one cares for them and human beings should not be trusted. How many of us would take an abandoned child and care for him/her as our own? Would we make the necessary sacrifices to ensure that they feel loved and protected? In India, November 14 is marked with a lot of activities for children. Schools organize events and activities which the students thoroughly enjoy. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru loved children. He wanted to be among them, talk and play with them. The children also loved and respected him. Nehru was born in Allahabad on November 14, 1889. His father, Motilal Nehru was a great political leader. Nehru was brought up by his parents like a prince. At the age of 14, he went to England to pursue further education.
After completing his education when Nehru came back to India in 1912, he began to take a keen interest in politics. He followed Mahatma Gandhi’s footsteps and joined his Non-cooperation Movement. He was elected President of the Congress five times and it was under his presidency in 1929 at the Lahore session that the Congress adopted the attainment of total independence as its goal. During India’s freedom struggle, he was arrested on several occasions. On August 14, 1947 when the British transferred power to India, Nehru became the Prime Minister of India. People loved to listen to his speeches. They honoured him and rallied round him. He was very fond of the children despite his hectic life as Indian Prime Minister. He loved to stay and play with children. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was not only a powerful speaker but also a renowned writer. He never cared for his own comforts. He struggled for peace.
Nehru passed away on May 27, 1964. The entire nation mourned his death because the people loved him.
Jubel D’Cruz,
Via e-mail
