Yuva Shakti Varsh-Gujarat’s Tribute to Swami Vivekananda
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2012 is the year when we collectively resolve to meet the current challenges and lead India to new heights and propel itself to its rightful place in the world economy.
On 12th Jan, 2012, India celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Swamiji needs no introduction; he was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the modern world who bore unconditional love and compassion towards humanity. He was also a great patriot, who nurtured the dream of ‘Jagatguru Bharat’ (India as the leader of the world).It is towards the realisation of this dream that the entire nation pledged to stride, honouring his 150th birth anniversary this year.
Gujarat also ushered his birth anniversary in a grand way. The state government organised a huge youth convention in Gandhinagar’s Mahatma Mandir on January 12th, 2012. Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, inaugurated the celebrations of the event along with the former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam. Dr. Kalam was happy to note that even though many parts of the country were hosting celebrations marking the 150th birthday of Swami Vivekananda, Gujarat was the first to be doing so. To further commemorate Swamiji, the Gujarat government has decided to mark the year 2012 as ‘Swami Vivekananda Youth year’. This is an endeavour to encourage the youth of the state and the country to reflect on Swamiji’s motivating messages.
Mahatma Mandir Youth Convention
The auditorium in Mahatma Mandir was packed to the dozens. Students from various colleges and schools gathered at the exhibition hall, next to the auditorium. The State Government along with the Ramakrishna Math organised an exhibition depicting the life and achievements of Swami Vivekananda. The exhibition displayed 49 panels which illustrated Swamiji’s life, from his childhood to his spiritual and philosophical awakening.
Students who did not have enough knowledge about Swamiji found the exhibition engaging and educative. It is a less known fact that Swami Vivekananda spent a lot of time in the Western part of the Subcontinent, which comprises Gujarat now.
The audio-visual display at electronic kiosks, in the exhibition hall, allowed the visitors to watch animated pictures depicting the life of Swami Vivekananda. The panels and the circular podium depicting GUJARAT was a hit with the students and youth. They were amazed to see the exhibition and many felt it was very educative and engaging. Those interested in learning more bought the various booklets on Swami Vivekananda and Gujarat. The congregation then moved on to the convention hall where the main event was to be organised. After a brief wait, the CM, Narendra Modi, arrived with the Chief Guest, Dr. Abdul Kalam, and visited the exhibition. Dr. Kalam was impressed and lauded the exhibition later in his speech.
As the convention began, the auditorium sprang to life as hundreds cheered and settled down to listen to the great Dr. Kalam. “I am born with goodness, I am born with greatness and confidence… and I have wings beneath my wings. I fly, I fly, I fly,” is what he started with. There was huge applause as Dr. Kalam continued to speak.
Drawing inspiration from Swamiji’s mantra, “the whole secret lies in organisation, accumulation of power, and co-ordination of will”, the CM gave out the mantra of Skill-Will-Zeal and Win. He urged youngsters to fulfil Swamiji’s unfulfilled dream of a strong and just nation. He pledged that, “2012 is the year when we collectively resolve to meet the current challenges and lead India to new heights and propel it to its rightful place in the world economy.” The CM in his speech declared the year 2012 as the year of skill development for the youth and announced that the Government will open several centres called the Swami Vivekananda Skill Development Centres, in various parts of Gujarat. He also stressed on opening vocational training institutions in Gujarat, as it would help increase the necessary workforce, in turn letting the youth participate in the state’s development.
Celebrations throughout the state
Apart from the celebrations in Gandhinagar, every nook and corner of Gujarat commemorated the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda with great enthusiasm and fervour. In Vadodara, Swamiji’s statute was unveiled on Vaghodia road to mark the start of the celebrations. Also, events such as rangoli competitions, distribution of kites in slums, took place. Ahmedabad saw young people dressed as Swami Vivekananda offering flowers to his statue. In Surat, a march began from the Athwa lines and ended at the Swami Vivekananda circle in Makaipura. In Jamnagar, two marches and a youth convention was organised. Rajkot started a rally at Jhansi ni Rani statue which ended at the Vivekananda statue. Here a public meeting was held, talking about the life and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. Children living in the slums were treated to nutritious food on this occasion. Each ward in Junagadh, participated in a rally, where young people again dressed as Swami Vivekananda. A ‘Vichar Prasar Yatra’ (or Spreading Philosophy) was held in Bhavnagar which was followed by a youth convention.
Swami Vivekananda in Gujarat
Swamiji travelled across the world for spreading and gaining knowledge. One of the earliest destinations in the journey for his quest for knowledge was Gujarat. Not many know that it was Thakur Saheb Jaswant Singh Ji of Limdi who inspired Swamiji to visit the West in order to preach Vedanta. From Limdi, Swamiji left for Junagadh, where he met Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai who would go on to become one of his close confidants. They had extensive discussions on the industrial, agricultural, economic problems and on the need for the spread of education among the masses. Swamiji continuously wrote many inspiring letters to Shri Hari Das while travelling the west.
Meditating on Girnar mountain Swamiji woke up to the influence of Christ on the Western world and he realised how their culture, art, political systems were all interwoven around his teachings. He spoke of the nature and extent of influence Hinduism had on the western religions and showed how central and western Asia was responsible for the inter-racial exchange of ideas. Swamiji discovered Junagadh as a treasure trove for ideas and studies.
The ruins of the great temple at Somnath made Swamiji appreciate the great past of India. The memories of this experience were greatly reflected in his famous Madras Lecture which he delivered soon after his return from the west. At Porbandar he spent several months discussing the Vedic Philosophy with Shankar Pandurang Pandit. Later, he even helped Shamkar Pandurang in editing the Atharva Ved. Here, he also finished his studies of the MahaBhashya, Patanjali’s great commentary on Panini’s Grammer. He studied French gaining a fair knowledge of it. This was the time when it dawned upon him that he had in himself the power to revolutionise the world. He strongly felt that to enable the civilised world to have a better picture of India he had to preach the glories of Sanatan Dharm to the west.
Therefore, he studied the Vedas and the philosophies of the Aryan Rishis, coming to the conclusion that India was the cradle of civilisation. Leaving Porbandar, Swamiji went to Dwaraka where he came across the ruins of a great India. It was here that he saw a great light symbolising the resplendent future of India. It is said that, around this time Swamiji learnt of the world’s parliament of religions which was going to be held in Chicago.
Gujarat’s initiatives
Swamiji was known to be the most forward-looking and practical of all the Indian spiritual gurus. In an era of aristocracy, patriarchy, caste discrimination and widespread ignorance he preached equal rights for women, education for all, broadening of cultural outlook and above all, propagation of Indian culture.
Swamiji was the first to identify the causes that prevented India from taking over the world. More than a century later, his teachings are still relevant and it is in them that we can find a way to meet the challenges faced by contemporary India. Gujarat has tried to imbibe these teachings and has used it in shaping the future of its people.
Swamiji had dreamt of a new, revolutionised and reformed India. He had instilled deep faith in the youth of the country, saying they would be instrumental in bringing about this change. He had said, “Men, men these are wanted: everything else will be ready, but strong, vigorous, believing young men, sincere to the backbone, are wanted. A hundred such and the world become revolutionised.” Paying homage to him, the Government of Gujarat has decided to dedicate his 150th birth year to the empowerment of youth.
Education and Employment
The first stride the government has taken in this direction is to deliver quality education. Swamiji once said,“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man” Gujarat has been striving hard to lift the standards of higher education in the state.
In the past one decade, serious efforts in helping the youth to access the portal of higher education have been made. In 2001, the state had only 11 universities; whereas today, there are 41. The state government opened many new universities for training the young. Specialised universities which meet international standards have been set up, like the Petroleum University, Sports University, Raksha Shakti University and Forensic Science University. About 52 new colleges have been set up taking the needs of the youth for education taking into consideration. In a first, a Children’s University has been started and a Commission for Education innovation has been initiated.
In addition, a provision of Rs 67 crore to establish an autonomous university for infrastructure, engineering and management at Ahmedabad has been made in this year’s budget. In a bid to expand access to higher education, 15 new colleges in Arts, Commerce and Science streams are also being planned by the Government.
Not only is the state providing education for the youth, but it has decided to adopt Swamiji’s mantra of Education for All. In the tribal belt 35 colleges are functioning now and a provision of Rs. 450 crore has been made to impart vocational training to the labourers in the organised sector and for education to their children. Numerous women have been provided with self-employment training and girl children have been given Vidyalakshmi bonds at the time of admission to Std-1.
A very important aspect to the empowerment of youth is providing employment opportunities. Gujarat’s long-term vision of growth in employment opportunities has enabled it to lay out schemes for the benefit of organisations which can generate employment. As Swamiji said – “Let us all work hard, my brethren; this is no time for sleep. On our work depends the coming of the India of the future.”
With a view of strengthening manpower in the state, Gujarat has set over 300 ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes), wherein more than 1.25 lakh students are trained according to the needs of the industry in order to produce a professionally skilled work force. To make the Gujarati students ready to face the challenges of an increasingly globalised world, a concept called ‘SCOPE’ has been introduced with the co-operation of Cambridge University to build proficiency in English language. Over 1 lakh students have received training under this programme in order to attain fluency in English. To see to the provision of employment opportunities of youth, a Gujarat knowledge Society too has been founded.
A total provision of Rs. 75 crore has been made to undertake activities that would engage the youth of the state to adopt Swami Vivekananda as their role model and imbibe his ideals such as character and nation-building. Listed below are provisions for a slew of new initiatives included in the Yuva Shakti Year’s budget.
- The Government has framed a scheme for imparting special training to young people by the Labour and Employment Department, to enable them to benefit from the job opportunities available as a result of the unprecedented industrial development in Gujarat. As a part of this it has been decided to build 10 new ITIs and upgrade 27 ITIs.
- With a view to impart training to the students of Technical institutions and enabling them to get practical experience in the Municipalities and Municipal Corporations, a provision has been made for the Techno Sathi Scheme.
- It has been proposed to plan the Vishwakarma Yojana to provide the benefit of real work-experience to engineering students and simultaneously apply their technical knowledge in the development of infrastructure in rural areas.
- The government is planning to initiate a widespread campaign to train youth and enable them to keep pace with the developing trends and to avail the benefits of technology. This programme will be known as eMPOWER – i.e. Electronic Manpower. Under this programme about 1000 youngsters in every taluka will be imparted primary training in Computers and Information technology.
- An automobile training centre is to be established at Sanand.
- 35 new Kaushalya Vardhan Kendras(KVKs) are to be set up , out of which 5 are to be dedicated to the disabled.
- Vocational training to 60,000 youth in urban areas under “UMEED” scheme is to be imparted and 10 new skill development centres under Gujarat industries Policy 2009 are to be added.
Gujarat has launched icreate, an initiative focussing on intensive domain-based exposure for knowledge and various skill sets required to produce young entrepreneurs. In this competitive age, it is imperative to inculcate the habit of reading amongst the youth. The Vanche Gujarat Movement was launched in the past to shed off ignorance, broaden the outlook of young inquisitive minds and sensitise them to their surroundings.
Humanities and Sports
Sanskrit language is our invaluable heritage. Swami Vivekananda thoroughly studied Sanskrit works and derived inspirations from them during his stay in Gujarat. In order to inspire the students of Sanskrit and as an ode to Swamiji, scholarships given to the students of Sanskrit Pathshalas would be revised. The scholarship in Madhyama, Shastri and Acharya are presently Rs. 25, Rs. 35 and Rs. 50 which will be revised to Rs. 150, Rs. 200 and Rs. 400 respectively. There is also a plan to provide ancient scriptures, Sanskrit books and Vedas in government and grant-in-aid Sanskrit Pathshalas. Aid will also be provided to conserve and protect ancient works of Sanskrit. In addition, eight grant-in-aid classes would be increased in Sanskrit Pathshalas.
It is true that India is yet to tap the sporting potential abundant in its youth and as a result of this, today we are lagging behind in the scoreboard of international sports. “Our young men must be strong. Be strong, my young friends: that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of Gita!” professed Swamiji.
The Khel Mahakumbh, an annual Sports extravaganza, with the tagline “Ramshe Gujarat to Jeetshe Gujarat” is an initiative of the State government to breed quality athletes and encourage the spirit of sportsmanship among the youth of Gujarat.
Gujarat also focuses on Rural Olympics as the Tarnetar fair, held each year, shows a new light through ‘Gramin Olympics’. Through Khel Mahakumbh scholarships for women participants are offered in order to encourage female athletes. Complexes for indoor and outdoor games have already been commissioned at Gandhinagar and in rural areas too; keeping in mind, the long term effects on health and fitness of the youth and the people of the state.
After the successful organisation of Khel Mahakumbh in November 2011, Yuva Shakti Year will see schemes taken up for imparting special training in selected sports to prepare the best players for national and international levels by the Pratibha Samvardhan Kendra under Swarnim Sports .
It is also planned to arrange training centres for mountaineering as well as adventure sports at Girnar, Saputara, and Mount Abu.
Gujarat has realised that it is time that India harnesses its demographic dividend- a rising middle class and a huge young population. A large number of human resources are not utilised adequately in the country. This directly reflects what Swamiji had once said – “All combined efforts in India sink under the weight of one inequity – we have not yet developed strict business principles.” How our human assets are nurtured and brought into the mainstream will decide India’s competitiveness in the global arena.
Government and Industry associations together should assess and prepare mobile workforces with the skills and proficiencies to meet sector requirements. India’s young workforce is estimated to increase by 240 million over the next two decades, and by 2035 India will have the largest working population in the world.
Gujarat’s experience in taking youth-centric initiatives could help shape the roadmap ahead. By invigorating our talent pool, our youth will be the engine of growth not just for India, but also for the world. As Swami Vivekananda had once said, “None can resist her anymore; never is she going to sleep anymore; no outward powers can hold her back anymore; for the infinite giant is rising to her feet.”
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