THE FUTILE CLAMOUR FOR HOLIDAY ON NETAJI'S BIRTHDAY
The onus must be on work, not abstinence from it in the name of celebration of Swamiji's or Netaji's birthday. Work was their very life.
Both Swamiji and Netaji, like Krishna and the Buddha before them, upheld this ideal of selfless detached performance of work for the common weal through practise of the ideal themselves. Therefore, to raise the demand for a holiday on Netaji's birthday would be tantamount to going against his life's ideal.
Indeed, it is true that Netaji's contributions to the freedom movement have been deliberately underplayed by successive Congress governments at the Centre. History has been distorted and undue and overmuch weightage has been given to Gandhian contribution to India's eventual liberation. While it is true that these historical misrepresentations must be addressed, they cannot be done by declaration of holidays that would further precipitate the state of sterile inaction by an independent polity that ought to rather activate itself in redressing these historical heresies.
The country is struggling with an ever-burgeoning population that is straining its resources to the hilt and threatens to bring it down to its knees if effective measures are not adopted by way of redressing it. Hence, at this critical hour of the nation's development when all efforts ought to be to garner the country's active strength towards building its economic health, it is puerile to raise the clamour for an additional holiday. It can only be counterproductive for the nation’s development if, indeed, Netaji's birthday is declared a national holiday for all the due reasons that would apparently seem to merit it.
To posit that Gandhiji's birthday has since long been observed as a national holiday and, so, Netaji's birthday also ought to be given a like no-work significance is silly. Rather, we must celebrate the day with a greater output of work out of reverence for our dear leader. Let our increased activity on this day be our homage to our hero rather than indolent dissipation of energy amounting to nothing.
For my part I would rather have only the Independence Day and the Republic Day as national holidays besides the holidays incumbent upon the nation on account of religious festivals. All other holidays including the Gandhi Jayanti I would rather declare as working days. For our nation needs a heavy output of work and not an ounce of indolence anymore. The more we work, the better will our future be.
The Bhagavad Geeta in trumpet voice proclaims the preeminence of work over idleness and in every other verse exhorts man to engage in selfless detached activity for the purification of the mindstuff as the means for eventual Self-realisation. This is the national ideal as enunciated by none other than Krishna, the God of India's destiny. Therefore, to go against it would be tantamount to violation of this supreme spiritual principle that has held this holy land of ours together for ages.
If we continue to make such irresponsible demands of national holiday on Netaji's birthday, then soon there will be a plethora of like demands for national holiday on the birthdays of Guru Gobind Singh by the Sikhs, Shivaji by the Maharashtrians, Muhammad by the Muslims, Adi Shankaracharya by the Hindus and a host of other seminal sons and daughters of the soil by their respective affiliates and adherents. When shall we work then? Is life on earth then to be deemed a jolly holiday-time to be spent in idle celebration in the name of men who had made work their life's singular passion for the raising of fallen humanity? Shall we then falsify the pristine principles of the Geeta and rewrite our new degenerate scripture of the decadent times?
People who are meritorious and endowed with pronounced rajasic quality never idly clamour for holiday thus. Their life is in their work and they know full well what an irreparable loss it is to the individual and to the polity when a working day is lost chasing wild geese. Only failed people enjoy these idle pastimes of raising the clamour for national abstinence from work in the name of honouring historical heroes of action. What an irony it is that Netaji's followers in such great abundance seek to nullify their leader's stated principles in life ! No wonder our country has fallen upon such an evil fate ever since the hero has departed the scene of active direction of his errant flock. And it is time to rectify such erroneous stance and give the movement of national regeneration a new impetus by affirmative action in the name of our national greats like Netaji rather than passive observance of their birthdays by abstinence from work.
There are many who feel that proper celebration of Netaji's birthday deserves the necessary relief from work on that day so that the hours may be spent in that direction, unhindered by one's daily occupation with professional work. True it is that in the absence of the leisure hours, celebration with due diligence on the particular day is impossible. Hence, the demand for a national holiday. While there is some merit to the argument thus, a better way to celebrate would be to go along the line the Ramakrishna Mission does when it comes to observing the public celebration of Sri Ramakrishna. The Sunday following the birthday of Ramakrishna is when they observe the public celebration. So can it be with the public celebration of Netaji's birthday -- on a standard scale on the birthday proper as afforded by the work constraints of the day, and a massive popular celebration on the Sunday following the birthday to make it a memorable national affair.
The Indian independence owes a lot to Netaji but that should not detract from the fact that civilisations are built upon the foundations of work and rest upon them, too. Hence, it will be sheer harakiri in the name of Netaji to resolve to fold one's hands from work on his birthday and exhibit idle respects to his memory. Literate people, men with a following and researchers on the life and times of Netaji ought not to misguide the masses, gullible as they are, into believing that holidaying honourably in Netaji's name on his birthday is the best tribute they can pay the hero. Here, manifestation of a modicum of civic responsibility would be welcome on the part of irresponsible claimants of holiday that would cost the nation ill-affordable loss of resource and revenue.
In conclusion let this be our motto : Work for freedom and keep working on. May the wheel of work never stop, nor for man, nor for God, for work itself is worship !
May Swamiji bless us all this day, his holy day of advent on earth to save civilisation ! May Netaji guide us ever unto nation-building through our labour of love and never through indolent abstinence from alloted duty that keeps the national wheel rolling ! May the divine duo inspire us unto karma yoga and may they deal the deathblow to all devious deliberations that delude the masses and distract them from their life's duties !
Vande Mataram ! Jai Swamiji ! Jai Netaji ! Jai Karma Yoga !
Written by Sugata Bose
The onus must be on work, not abstinence from it in the name of celebration of Swamiji's or Netaji's birthday. Work was their very life.
Both Swamiji and Netaji, like Krishna and the Buddha before them, upheld this ideal of selfless detached performance of work for the common weal through practise of the ideal themselves. Therefore, to raise the demand for a holiday on Netaji's birthday would be tantamount to going against his life's ideal.
Indeed, it is true that Netaji's contributions to the freedom movement have been deliberately underplayed by successive Congress governments at the Centre. History has been distorted and undue and overmuch weightage has been given to Gandhian contribution to India's eventual liberation. While it is true that these historical misrepresentations must be addressed, they cannot be done by declaration of holidays that would further precipitate the state of sterile inaction by an independent polity that ought to rather activate itself in redressing these historical heresies.
The country is struggling with an ever-burgeoning population that is straining its resources to the hilt and threatens to bring it down to its knees if effective measures are not adopted by way of redressing it. Hence, at this critical hour of the nation's development when all efforts ought to be to garner the country's active strength towards building its economic health, it is puerile to raise the clamour for an additional holiday. It can only be counterproductive for the nation’s development if, indeed, Netaji's birthday is declared a national holiday for all the due reasons that would apparently seem to merit it.
To posit that Gandhiji's birthday has since long been observed as a national holiday and, so, Netaji's birthday also ought to be given a like no-work significance is silly. Rather, we must celebrate the day with a greater output of work out of reverence for our dear leader. Let our increased activity on this day be our homage to our hero rather than indolent dissipation of energy amounting to nothing.
For my part I would rather have only the Independence Day and the Republic Day as national holidays besides the holidays incumbent upon the nation on account of religious festivals. All other holidays including the Gandhi Jayanti I would rather declare as working days. For our nation needs a heavy output of work and not an ounce of indolence anymore. The more we work, the better will our future be.
The Bhagavad Geeta in trumpet voice proclaims the preeminence of work over idleness and in every other verse exhorts man to engage in selfless detached activity for the purification of the mindstuff as the means for eventual Self-realisation. This is the national ideal as enunciated by none other than Krishna, the God of India's destiny. Therefore, to go against it would be tantamount to violation of this supreme spiritual principle that has held this holy land of ours together for ages.
If we continue to make such irresponsible demands of national holiday on Netaji's birthday, then soon there will be a plethora of like demands for national holiday on the birthdays of Guru Gobind Singh by the Sikhs, Shivaji by the Maharashtrians, Muhammad by the Muslims, Adi Shankaracharya by the Hindus and a host of other seminal sons and daughters of the soil by their respective affiliates and adherents. When shall we work then? Is life on earth then to be deemed a jolly holiday-time to be spent in idle celebration in the name of men who had made work their life's singular passion for the raising of fallen humanity? Shall we then falsify the pristine principles of the Geeta and rewrite our new degenerate scripture of the decadent times?
People who are meritorious and endowed with pronounced rajasic quality never idly clamour for holiday thus. Their life is in their work and they know full well what an irreparable loss it is to the individual and to the polity when a working day is lost chasing wild geese. Only failed people enjoy these idle pastimes of raising the clamour for national abstinence from work in the name of honouring historical heroes of action. What an irony it is that Netaji's followers in such great abundance seek to nullify their leader's stated principles in life ! No wonder our country has fallen upon such an evil fate ever since the hero has departed the scene of active direction of his errant flock. And it is time to rectify such erroneous stance and give the movement of national regeneration a new impetus by affirmative action in the name of our national greats like Netaji rather than passive observance of their birthdays by abstinence from work.
There are many who feel that proper celebration of Netaji's birthday deserves the necessary relief from work on that day so that the hours may be spent in that direction, unhindered by one's daily occupation with professional work. True it is that in the absence of the leisure hours, celebration with due diligence on the particular day is impossible. Hence, the demand for a national holiday. While there is some merit to the argument thus, a better way to celebrate would be to go along the line the Ramakrishna Mission does when it comes to observing the public celebration of Sri Ramakrishna. The Sunday following the birthday of Ramakrishna is when they observe the public celebration. So can it be with the public celebration of Netaji's birthday -- on a standard scale on the birthday proper as afforded by the work constraints of the day, and a massive popular celebration on the Sunday following the birthday to make it a memorable national affair.
The Indian independence owes a lot to Netaji but that should not detract from the fact that civilisations are built upon the foundations of work and rest upon them, too. Hence, it will be sheer harakiri in the name of Netaji to resolve to fold one's hands from work on his birthday and exhibit idle respects to his memory. Literate people, men with a following and researchers on the life and times of Netaji ought not to misguide the masses, gullible as they are, into believing that holidaying honourably in Netaji's name on his birthday is the best tribute they can pay the hero. Here, manifestation of a modicum of civic responsibility would be welcome on the part of irresponsible claimants of holiday that would cost the nation ill-affordable loss of resource and revenue.
In conclusion let this be our motto : Work for freedom and keep working on. May the wheel of work never stop, nor for man, nor for God, for work itself is worship !
May Swamiji bless us all this day, his holy day of advent on earth to save civilisation ! May Netaji guide us ever unto nation-building through our labour of love and never through indolent abstinence from alloted duty that keeps the national wheel rolling ! May the divine duo inspire us unto karma yoga and may they deal the deathblow to all devious deliberations that delude the masses and distract them from their life's duties !
Vande Mataram ! Jai Swamiji ! Jai Netaji ! Jai Karma Yoga !
Written by Sugata Bose
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