Commemorating Swamiji on National Youth Day

Today, 12th January 2021, is the 159th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the man, who won hearts of not only all the people in India, but also outside India. His views, his philosophies weren’t bound to the limits of time and place, it was appreciated universally. He was the favorite disciple of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa Dev and fully devoted himself to serve him. He was from a aristocratic Bengali Kayashtha family in Kolkata, but after coming in touch with Shri Ramakrishna, he gave up worldly pleasures and became a saint to serve humanity.

After his first meeting with Shri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda mistook him as a ‘fake monk’ but eventually he became the dearest person in his life. Ramakrishna baptized him into humanism and prepared him to serve humanity. He dedicated his life to serve the poor people of this country. He understood that only one thing can remove poverty from this country and that thing is proper education to the youth. He used to say, “If the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him”. His thought was: if one takes oneself as weak, she/he will be weak, and if takes as strong, she/he will be strong. From the year 1985, the birthday of Swami Vivekananda is observed as National Youth Day. The feeling behind this thought was that the ideals and views of Swami Vivekananda could be a great inspiration for the youth. 65 percent of India’s population is under 35 years age and youth is the most oncoming and dynamic part of any country. But as today’s youth, are we following the ideals of Vivekananda? The youngsters are being deviated from the path of what Swamiji paved for us. We should look forward to making a better nation by making a better society around us. This reminds me of our, Jagaran Natya Dal’s, purpose which is “Towards a better society”. I want to conclude with a quote of Swami Vivekananda addressed to the youth, “Youth is the best time. The way in which you utilize this period will decide the nature of coming years that lie ahead of you”.