Today is 14th November and is celebrated as Children’s Day in India.
However, while 20th November is universally celebrated as Children’s Day, in India this day has been preponed to 14th November, the date the marks the birth anniversary of independent India’s First Prime Minister – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
The reason why his birthday has been chosen for the celebration of children is because of his love and passion for children. Pandit Nehru is also regarded as the country’s special child to have been the First Prime Minister, after his long struggle for independence.
The day is marked with a lot of activities for children. But the fact remains that only a section of the country’s children actually have an opportunity to celebrate their existence. Schools organize events and activities that their students thoroughly enjoy, but there is an entire populace of young ones that are left ignored on this special day – the downtrodden street children.
Instead of celebrating it with pomposity in schools and clubs and hotels, why not bring a difference into the lives of children who are unprivileged. While celebrating being a child, the fortunate ones should be reminded about their good fortune to have all that they are endowed with, while there are others who can barely feed or clothe themselves.
Thus, while this day was globally instituted to provide children with basic Rights, maybe one can make a difference to a child’s life by doing something special. Parties and celebrations happen all the time, but how about taking the fortunate children to homes that shelter street children and have them befriend those kids, donating clothes, toys, stationery, books, etc.
Another way of celebrating this day differently would be to have your children, whether as teacher or parent, organize a party for some underprivileged children. In fact, if this is done in every neighborhood, imagine how many smiles there will be across the nation.
Childhood is about innocence and playfulness. It is about joy and freedom. Maybe on this day you can make your own child sign up to sponsor the education of an unprivileged child, either through an NGO dedicated to educating and providing better living conditions for street children, or maybe you could do so for your employee’s child.
Celebrating Children’s Day is about giving children the right to enjoy and grow into healthy and educated citizens of the country, and if you can teach your child the value of sharing with others what they are lucky to have, then not only your child will grow into a responsible human being, but also another child who otherwise could have ended up being a delinquent, had it not been for your thoughtfulness.
Some Other Notes about Children’s Day
Children's day was first celebrated worldwide in October, 1953, under the sponsorship of International Union for Child Welfare, Geneva. The idea of Universal Children's Day was mooted by late Shri V.K. Krishna Menon and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954.
20 November is Universal Children's Day. First proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1954, it was established to encourage all countries to institute a day, firstly to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children and secondly to initiate action to benefit and promote the welfare of the world's children.
20 November is the anniversary of the day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was then signed on the same day in 1989, which has since been ratified by 191 states.
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