November 14, 2024
The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence." This is a wonderful quote by Denis Waitley that beautifully highlights the dual responsibility that we have towards our children of giving them roots of responsibility to develop a value system through holistic education and encouraging them to be independent individuals to achieve their true potential. Proverbs 22:6 aptly states, “Start children off on the way they should go and when they are old they will not turn from it”. We have a responsibility to help our children to grow as confident individuals and this process of grooming and nurturing them has to begin right from their young age.
November 14th is the birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. This day is celebrated as Children’s Day because of his special affection towards children as he believed that children are the future of the nation and they need to be loved and educated in a nurturing environment. Children’s day is a reminder that children are special gifts from the Almighty God with their unique qualities of curiosity, creativity and innocence. This day holds a great significance as it brings about awareness that children’s well being and their rights are of utmost importance. The United Nations’ statistics on children’s poverty, lack of education and exploitation are startling. In this light, every Children’s Day should be a clarion call to action for the safety, security and the overall wellbeing of children. While we celebrate Children’s day and advocate for a happy childhood for every child, those children who are privileged and blessed with various opportunities and facilities are urged to be empathetic towards the less privileged children in their approach and strive to make the best of the opportunities to become responsible citizens of our country.
God has blessed our country with a large percentage of child and youth population making it one of the youngest countries in the world. These children are the future of our nation; the future leaders of our country. It is our responsibility to provide them with necessary opportunities and a suitable environment to help them live their childhood to the fullest and motivate them to become responsible citizens to make substantial contribution in society. Let us not ruin their future by depriving them of their rights. Our former President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had a powerful message, “Let us sacrifice our today so that 'our children' can have a better tomorrow.” Let us cherish, respect and celebrate our precious children and help children celebrate their childhood.
Wishing all our children a happy and healthy childhood!
Happy Children’s Day!