National Youth Day is celebrated every 12th of January each year. This special day marks the birthday of Swami Vivekananda and it aims to raise awareness about the Importance of the Rite among the Indian people. It also aims to make people have a positive attitude and how they can behave in the most proper way for the betterment of the country.
About the National Youth Day
The National Youth Day brings together all the people and makes them understand each other in order to result in better cooperation, better task performance, and hence better results. The Indian people must be brainstormed with all their plans and ideas about how they can use the best of their knowledge in order to make results the best that they can be.
All Indian schools and colleges participate in the celebration of this day. Activities include youth conventions, seminars, presentations, competitions, processions, advocacy campaigns, speeches, and event entertainment like dancing and singing. There are also sports and recitation events held during this day. Since this day marks the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, a great Indian figure, his lectures and writings are showcased to the people so as for them to derive inspiration from Indian spiritual tradition and the broad outlook of Master Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. These have become the sources of inspiration and motivation for the Indian youth.
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The five teachings of Swami Vivekananda are as follows:
It’s all in the mind
“Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.”
Follow the three Ps
“Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and above all, love.”
What Vedanta calls religion
“This is the gist of all worship — to be pure and to do good to others.”
End hunger and ignorance
“So long as millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.”
Every man’s true religion
“No man is born to any religion; he has a religion in his own soul.”
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History
It was in the year 1984 when the Indian Government decided to mark the 12th of January as the National Youth Day to be celebrated every year. This date was chosen since it is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. According to the Indian Government, the philosophy and ideals of Swami could be a great source of inspiration for all the youth in India.
During the celebration of the 150th birthday of Swami Vivekananda on January 12, 2013, Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh states in his address:
“What Gandhiji said captures the great importance of spreading Swami Vivekananda’s ideas and ideals among the youth in our country today. He personified the eternal energy of the youth and their restless quest for truth. It is entirely fitting that the Government of India has declared 12th January, the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, as National Youth Day. We must work to rekindle the eternal message of this great patriot and son of India.”
Dates
As mentioned earlier, the National Youth Day is always celebrated on the 12th of January each year. This means that the upcoming National Youth Day will be held on January 12th.
Why Celebrate Youth Day
The following are the main reasons why you should participate in the celebration of the National Youth Day:
The Day Inspires Young People
As mentioned earlier, this event commemorates the great Swami Vivekananda. He is a great source of inspiration for the youth and young minds. When the youth learn of his ideals and philosophy during this event, it can make a great impact in their lives. Nevertheless, whether you are a part of the youth or not, you should celebrate this day to learn the useful life lessons from Swami Vivekananda.
The Celebration Honors a Great Spiritual Leader
Also, a good reason to celebrate during this day is that this is the best time to honor Swami Vivekananda. He has done significant contributions to the country of India so he rightfully deserves all the honor and recognition that he can get. He may be gone in this world but it would be good to thank, appreciate, and honor him during this special day of celebration.
The Various Activities for the Day Are Fun
All the more reason to celebrate this event is that it involves a lot of fun activities including speeches, debates, seminars, advocacy campaign rallies, and many more activities held in colleges schools, and youth clubs. This is the best time to involve yourself with the youth of your locality and together appreciate the great Swami Vivekananda.
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Celebration Ideas and Activities
The following are the best things to do to make your celebration of the National Youth Day as best as it can be:
Learn More About Swami Vivekananda
Perhaps the best way to celebrate this day is to learn more about Swami Vivekananda. You can do that by reading a biography about him. You can even watch a documentary or a film that features him. By doing these, you can learn a lot about the life of Vivekananda and absorb all of his valuable teachings and ideals in life.
Participate in the Various Activities
You can also celebrate this day by participating in the many activities held for the fun celebration. You can join those hosted by schools, colleges, and youth clubs. You can bring out your competitive spirit, skills, and knowledge by joining debates, quizzes, and other kinds of competitions that aim to evoke the power of the youth.
Make a Difference
Also a good activity to do for this day is to make a difference. This reflects one of the many great ideals of Swami Vivekananda. You can, for instance, donate blood. You can also volunteer in homeless shelters, orphanages, home for the elderly, etc.
Quotes
- Good habits formed at youth make all the difference (Aristotle)
- There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age (Sophia Loren)
- Youth offers the promise of happiness, but life offers the realities of grief (Nicholas Sparks)
- Yes, of course we were pretentious — what else is youth for? (Julian Barnes)
- Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old (Franz Kafka)
- It takes a very long time to become young (Pablo Picasso)
- “Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
Messages, Greetings, and Wishes
- Your power is in your dreams and daring ambitions. You are currently enjoying the period of greatest creative flow and the strongest confidence in your might. Increase this power, add love and tenderness to it, care about people. Happy Youth Day!
- All motivational words for youth today appeal to you. Feel responsible for yourself and the whole planet. Unleash yourself! Release your power on this day and always. You are the product of your past, but you are entitled to make yourself whatever you want to be. Happy National Youth Day!
- All happy Youth Day quotes are insufficient to demonstrate your might and capacity to change the world for the better. Become a hero! Let all the fears behind you. Life brings its fruit to those who dare and dream big. Happy Youth Day!
- I am sending all the National Youth Day wishes to you today. If you think you are strong and mighty, you are. If you decide that you will fail, you definitely will. It is up to you what to do and how to present yourself to the world. I do believe that you have enough courage and will to win any summit. Happy Youth Day!
- Feel how appealing the Youth Day themes are for you. You are smart, energetic, enthusiastic, determined, fearless, and ambitious. You can cope with the greatest challenges. You can do wonders if you are in charge of your life. Make the impossible easy. Be strong. Happy Youth Day!
Themes
The theme of National Youth Day 2011 was “Sabse Pehle Bharat.”
The theme of National Youth Day 2012 was “Celebrating Diversity In Unity.”
The theme of National Youth Day 2013 was “Awakening The Youth Power.”
The theme of National Youth Day 2014 was “Youth For Drugs Free World.”
The theme of National Youth Day 2015 was “Youngman” and “Youth for Clean, Green and Progressive India” (and the slogan was “hum se hai nayi shuruaat”).
The theme of National Youth Day 2016 was “Indian Youth for Development, Skill, and Harmony.”
The theme of National Youth Day 2017 was “Youth for Digital India.”
The theme of National Youth Day ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi.’
The theme of National Youth Day 2022 is ‘Channelizing Youth Power for Nation Building’.