What is National Youth Day
What is the first thing comes to your mind whenever you hear National Youth Day? Does it make your heart skip a beat? If it did, then why? Let me break it for you why it is so important for Indian citizens, especially for the youth. 12th January is honored as the National Youth Day all over India on the birthday of our great Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda. The Indian Government has decided to mark his birthday as the National Youth Day since 1985.
Throughout India, several schools, colleges, and youth societies organize different types of cultural and social awareness missions. With these types of programs, they spread the knowledge as well as provide social services to the needy people.
Not only just India, but there are also a few countries that celebrate the birthday of Swamiji, such as Canada and the USA. Swamiji is a very well-known name among the USA people. He gave speeches in the world’s Parliament of Religion in 1893. The speech made him popular throughout the worlds and honored him with the name as the messenger of Indian wisdom to the western world.
Why is it Called National Youth Day?
National Youth Day, also known as Swami Vivekananda Jayanti, is celebrated on 12th January, which is the birthday of the great monk Swami Vivekananda. He was the chief disciple of Shree Ramakrishna, who became famous all over the world due to his exposure to the philosophies of Vedanta and Yogashans to the western world at such a young age.
His speech in the parliament of the world’s religions in Chicago raised awareness of Hinduism among the people from western countries when he was just 30 years old. From his speech, people from different countries came to know about Indian cultures and beliefs. His worldwide exposure to our Hindu cultures within such a young age is a great example of the will power of youth.
He also believed that the growth of any country depends on the willpower of the youth. His speeches and philosophies motivate the youth a lot. So, in 1985 the Indian Government introduced this day as National Youth Day to distribute Swamiji’s philosophies among young people.
What Happens on National Youth Day?
You must remember your school and college events on this day, as you all have prepared a lot of acts and speeches influenced by him. So, just like you, there are many people from all the schools and colleges engage themselves in celebrating our great Swamiji’s birthday.
India has the largest youth population among all the countries. So, if they get motivations from the speeches of our great Swamiji, then the growth of the Indian economy, as well as the overall literacy, will be hiked too. So, the government along with several non-governmental organizations prepares processions and rallies along with visual demonstrations of his speeches and philosophies. This helps the surrounding people to know about him.
Significance of National Youth Day / Swami Vivekananda Jayanti
Swami Vivekananda is considered as the leader of the youth due to his achievements. His way of approaches, beliefs, strong will power and perceptions still have a huge impact on the lifestyle of the youth. So, the Indian government has decided to seek the positivity from his speeches.
Swamiji believed that youth is the key factor in the growth of any country. From economic to religion, from literacy to development; youth plays a vital role. So, on the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, the Indian government wants to motivate the internal energy and willpower of the youth through his speeches. It will help the young people to channelize their energy into something positive, thus embarking the development of India.
His philosophies also speak about unity and brotherhood. The speeches sew the individual perceptions in a single thread. This leads to the accumulation of little energies into a big quantity, which altogether can easily solve a large problem.
Students are the future of any country and they need proper guidance and directions to bring out their strong personality. Attending these programs on this day will influence you in the upcoming days with its positive way of living.
Worldwide Programs on National Youth Day
In India, 12th January is celebrated everywhere. All of the schools and colleges engage the students into various sports and cultural programs which make their bonding stronger.
Some of the institutes organize various scientific programs, such as debates on certain ongoing concerns, essay writing competitions, Yogashans, scientific work exhibitions, and plays to showcase the different stories and philosophies of our great saint.
Other than the school and college programs, several Governmental and non-Governmental organizations conduct social services, such as distributing foods and clothes to the needy people, giving books and other necessary instruments to the needy students, and offering free classes to the excellent students. These services are mainly conducted by youth, so to know about him, join in these programs.
National Youth Day Themes
The Indian Government has also come up with an idea to engage the youth more into the program by giving a theme to the national youth day. Each year the theme changes and it started in 2011. Each of the themes is designed carefully by keeping the main purpose of the program in mind. The themes are as follows:
In 2011 the National Youth Day theme was Sabse Pehle Bharat. In 2012 it was celebrating Diversity in Unity. The 2013 theme was Awakening the Youth Power. Youth for Drugs Free World was the 2014 theme. 2015 has a significant role in National Youth Day, as in this year along with the theme; it had come up with a slogan. The theme was Youngmanch and the slogan used to say Hum Se Hai Nayi Shuruaat. The next year, the 2016 theme for National Youth Day was Indian Youth for Development, Skill, and Harmony. In 2017, with the digitalization throughout India, the Government had come up with Youth for Digital India theme for spreading the benefits of the same. The 2018 theme for 12th January was Sankalp Se Siddhi. The 2019 theme for national youth day was Channelizing Youth Power for Nation Building.
Swami Vivekananda was not just a famous personality in India but also a well-known name in the western countries as well. On his birthday and the National Youth Day, there are several programs arranged in other countries, such as the Vedanta Society of Toronto celebrates this day to spread the philosophies of Hindu Vedanta. So, National Youth Day of India is not just a day but itself a religion of unity and power throughout the world.
