If you sat in front of a large band and the piano player,
the guitarist, the drummer and the singers all started singing or playing on a
different note, what would happen? You would put your fingers in your ears,
shut your eyes and wrinkle your forehead in pain. You would say “this is not
music. There is no harmony.” But what if a small child sat in front of this
same band every day? He would soon grow to think that this was real music. And
he would grow up always singing and playing out of tune.
Today, we the children of Indian are in a similar position.
All around us there is national disharmony – political, social, religious – and
we growing to accept it as a way of life.
Rabindranath Tagore said that “India must fight against and
education that teaches us that a country is more important than the ideals of
humanity.” This is true. We have developed a false sense of security, or
patriotism. Mahatma Gandhi fought for freedom but he also practiced non-violence
and preached “peaceful harmony helps to build a stronger nation.”
Greed for power and money invite national powers to become
global powers. Global powers are far-sighted enough to realize that their power
is sustainable only by involving student power. And students… young and
impressionable, go like lambs to the slaughter. Therefore my dear friends, I
say that the success of tomorrow’s national harmony defends on us, the students
of today. If we first build ourselves to be worthy, daring and peace-loving children,
only then can we hope to build this country to be strong, united, harmonious
nation.
