നവഭാരതം
പൂക്കണിവച്ച
ഇതള്‍വാടാ
റോജാമലര്‍
(വായനക്കാര്‍ക്ക് ഇമലയാളിയുടെ ശിശുദിനാശംസകള്‍)

First prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was born in November 14. (14 November 1889- 27 May 1964, aged 74). His birthday is celebrated as Children's Day in India. A story goes that he started to wear a rose on his jacket after a child pinned one on it.
Jawaharlal Nehru : Architect of India

Nehru launched a policy of planned economic development with emphasis on heavy industries and multi-purpose projects. His tenure saw the establishment of a string of major industries, dams and steel plants in the country. He secured funds from both the West and the Soviet Union in his efforts at industrialization.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India and the architect of India's foreign policy, along with Tito (Yugoslavia) and Nasser (Egypt), founded the Non- Aligned Movement. He considered that the non-aligned policy does not necessitate taking a neutral stand. On the other hand, it allowed the member-nations to get aid and maintain good relations with both power blocs.

Nehru declared that India's economic policy must be based on a humane outlook and must not sacrifice men for money. Thus, the policy was socialist in leaning and gave India a mixed economy and five-year plans. He described the dams and power plants as `Modern Temples', which are necessary for the nation's economic progress.
He had a special liking for children and they fondly called him `Chacha', meaning uncle.

He suffered a stroke in 1963 and again a second attack in January 1964. He died on May 27, 1964. A statue of this architect of modern India has been installed on the Beach Road.

On August 15, 1947 in his historical Independence Day speech, he called himself first servant of the Indian people. Extracts from Jawaharlal Nehru  Speech:

“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and Freedom. At this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity. We end today a period of ill-fortune and discover again that freedom and power bring responsibility. The service of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. It means, the ending of poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every fear from every eye.

“We have to build the noble mansion of free India, where all her children may dwell. On this day, our first thoughts go to the Architect of this freedom - the father of freedom Mahatma Gandhij, who embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the Torch of Freedom and light up the darkness that surround us. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest and to India, our much loved motherland, the ancient and eternal and ever new, we pay our reverent homage and we find ourselves afresh to her services”.

Nehru was a prolific writer in English and wrote a number of books, such as The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, and his autobiography, Toward Freedom.

In 1955 Nehru awarded himself with Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

Jawaharlal Nehru Quotes

A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.

A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new; when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance.

A theory must be tempered with reality.

Action itself, so long as I am convinced that it is right action, gives me satisfaction.

Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends.

Citizenship consists in the service of the country.

Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.

Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.

Democracy and socialism are means to an end, not the end itself.

Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse.

Every little thing counts in a crisis.

Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.

Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles.


Great causes and little men go ill together.

I have become a queer mixture of the East and the West, out of place everywhere, at home nowhere.

Ignorance is always afraid of change.

It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.

It is the habit of every aggressor nation to claim that it is acting on the defensive.

Let us be a little humble; let us think that the truth may not perhaps be entirely with us.

Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.

Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even though it may not be immediately recognized, ultimately bears fruit.

Obviously, the highest type of efficiency is that which can utilize existing material to the best advantage.

Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.

Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.

Socialism is... not only a way of life, but a certain scientific approach to social and economic problems.

The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds.

The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The man who has gotten everything he wants is all in favor of peace and order.

The only alternative to coexistence is codestruction.

The person who runs away exposes himself to that very danger more than a person who sits quietly.


The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous.

The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.

The purely agitational attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.

There is perhaps nothing so bad and so dangerous in life as fear.

Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.

To be in good moral condition requires at least as much training as to be in good physical condition.

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.

What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.

Without peace, all other dreams vanish and are reduced to ashes.

You don't change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall.

Nehru's contribution to Society
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is the maker of Modern India as his life and works have influenced our way of thinking, social structures and all round development. He was a perfect blend of eastern values and western thinking and encouraged technological progress. But he was also a man of letters and a great poet and wrote some famous works like, 'Glimpses of World History' and 'Discovery of India'. His letters to his daughter, Indira, was also compiled into a book and reflects his philosophical outlook, his compassion and above all, his tender heart.
The birth of Chacha Nehru
His great love for roses as well as children is a well-known fact. In fact he often compared the two, saying that children were like the buds in a garden. They should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they were the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow. He felt that children are the real strength of a country and the very foundation of society. Most importantly he did not discriminate between the sexes and believed in giving equal opportunities to girls and boys. In fact his own little girl grew up to be the third Prime Minister of India.
Quite naturally, he was the 'beloved' of all the children who gave him the endearing name of 'Chacha Nehru'. As a tribute to this great man and his genuine love for children, his birthday is celebrated all over India as 'UNIVERSAL CHILDREN'S DAY'. A day of fun and fanfare. It is not only a national holiday, but is celebrated with singing, dancing and storytelling in schools and colleges as well as on radio and television. Special functions are held to honour children all over the country.
The significance of Children's Day
But amidst all this pomp and glory, we should not lose sight of Chacha Nehru's real message. That is providing our children with a safe and loving environment in which to grow as well as giving them ample and equal opportunities through which they can take great strides and contribute to the progress of the nation. This day serves as a reminder to each and every one of us, to renew our commitment to the welfare of children and teach them to live by their Chacha Nehru's standards and example.
http://www.indiaparenting.com
A Tryst with Destiny (1947)
by Jawaharlal Nehru Delivered August 14th, 1947.
Speech in the Constituent Assembly of India, on the eve of India's Independence
Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
At the dawn of history, India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and grandeur of her success and failures. Through good and ill fortune alike, she has never lost sight of that quest, forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of misfortunes and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?
Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom, we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons us now.
That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.
And so we have to labour and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace is said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.
To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.

The appointed day has come -the day appointed by destiny- and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning-point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.
It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed!
We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow-stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people.
On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.
Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.
We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good [or] ill fortune alike.
The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.
We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.
To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.
And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.
JAI HIND.
The Light Has Gone Out
by Jawaharlal Nehru Delivered January 30th, 1948.
Speech broadcast to the Nation over All India Radio after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Friends and Comrades, the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. I do not know what to tell you and how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the Father of the Nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that. Nevertheless, we will never see him again as we have seen him for these many years. We will not run to him for advice and seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not to me only, but to millions and millions in this country. And it is a little difficult to soften the blow by any other advice that I or anyone else can give you.
The light has gone out, I said, and yet I was wrong. For the light that shone in this country was no ordinary light. The light that has illumined this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years, and a thousand years later, that light will be seen in this country and the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts. For that light represented something more than the immediate past, it represented the living, the eternal truths, reminding us of the right path, drawing us from error, taking this ancient country to freedom.
All this has happened when there was so much more for him to do. We could never think that he was unnecessary or that he had done his task. But now, particularly, when we are faced with so many difficulties, his not being with us is a blow most terrible to bear.
A madman has put an end to his life, for I can only call him mad who did it, and yet there has been enough of poison spread in this country during the past years and months, and this poison has had an effect on people’s minds. We must face this poison, we must root out this poison, and we must face all the perils that encompass us, and face them not madly or badly, but rather in the way that our beloved teacher taught us to face them.
The first thing to remember now is that none of us dare misbehave because he is angry. We have to behave like strong and determined people, determined to face all the perils that surround us, determined to carry out the mandate that our great teacher and our great leader has given us, remembering always that if, as I believe, his spirit looks upon us and sees us, nothing would displease his soul so much as to see that we have indulged in any small behaviour or any violence.
So we must not do that. But that does not mean that we should be weak, but rather that we should, in strength and in unity, face all the troubles that are in front of us. We must hold together, and all our petty troubles and difficulties and conflicts must be ended in the face of this great disaster. A great disaster is a symbol to us to remember all the big things of life and forget the small things of which we have thought too much. In his death he has reminded us of the big things of life, the living truth, and if we remember that, then it will be well with India…
It was proposed by some friends that Mahatmaji’s body should be embalmed for a few days to enable millions of people to pay their last homage to him. But it was his wish, repeatedly expressed, that no such thing should happen, that this should not be done, that he was entirely opposed to any embalming of his body, and so we decided that we must follow his wishes in this matter, however much others might have wished otherwise.
And so the cremation will take place on Saturday in Delhi city by the side of the Jamuna river. On Saturday afternoon, about 11.30, the bier will be taken out at Birla House and it will follow a prescribed road and go to the Jamuna river. The cremation will take place there at about 4 P.M. The place and the route will be announced by radio and the Press.
People in Delhi who wish to pay their last homage should gather along this route. I will not advise too many of them to come to Birla House, but rather to gather on both sides of this long route from Birla House to the Jamuna river. And I trust that they will remain there in silence without any demonstrations. That is the best way and the most fitting way to pay homage to this great soul. Also, Saturday should be a day of fasting and prayer for all of us.
Those who live elsewhere, out of Delhi and in other parts of India, will no doubt take such part as they can in this last homage. For them also, let this be a day of fasting and prayer. And at the appointed time for cremation, that is 4 pm on Saturday afternoon, people should go to the river or to the sea and offer prayers there. And while we pray, the greatest prayer that we can offer is to take a pledge to dedicate ourselves to the truth, and to the cause for which this great countryman of ours lived and for which he has died. That is the best prayer that we can offer him and his memory. That is the best prayer we can offer to India and ourselves.
JAI HIND.
Ref: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Light_Has_Gone_Out