It was 1964 and the Indian Parliament wherein after the death of country’s first democratically elected Prime Minister a resolution was passed to declare Nov 14th, on each passing year as Children’s Day.
While there may be many who were never given the privilege to know this, but every student may remember this day with amazing skits, dramas, motivational speeches, games etc. A day when teachers do all they can to make kids feel special.
I wondered why children for one’s birthday? We were apprised of the fact that he loved children most and he once said:
“The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country”.
How we have grown is another perspective altogether. Yet I try to imagine, what future do we have? Do we have a future? Well, no Scientist knows for sure, what comes ahead of 2100.
And this planet and the human race has all propensity to surprise.
PM Nehru and his guiding light for Science and Earth:
Despite the shady portrayal of this leader who was chosen out of all to comfort an infant republic that was formed out of bloodshed and violence, one can be amazed to read his stature in the history of a fighting world and a country that was doomed to fall as per experts.
Well, it has been long enough to tell we are standing tall.
He nurtured technology (called the father of IITs) and had big aims for an unmatchable space future, in times when world was colliding oneself of who could garner more support, more power, more influence and more resources.
Nevertheless, fueled by not-so-bad start and a decent rising, what lies ahead in India’s realms? Will its children get healthy air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat and a future to survive the odds?
Climate change and Children: a crippled future
Children, the very future of this world, may fall in perils rendering every developmental and economic upliftment of every soul absolutely useless, unless the climate change gets curbed.
Because as per UNICEF, children are one of the most vulnerable groups, especially in developing countries where the resources are limited and chaos abound: “Approximately 1 billion children are at an ‘extremely high risk’ of the impacts of the climate crisis”.
Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has claimed children suffering the most with hunger, ignorance, neglect and malnutrition if droughts, floods, cyclones etc. degrade food production and leave these innocent souls at the mercy of other.
It is not just the case with physical constraints to their growth, with increasing climate change there have been instances of progressive mental incompetence like anxiety, depression, reduced cognitive abilities etc.
The danger will only escalate if left untended.
Children of tomorrow’s India will have to pay the hefty price considering the climate emergencies and consequent humanitarian crises those may come if the present generation continues with fulfilling their own coffers.
This is what the history will remember, though it can be rewritten and molded, but there will be pen to note things down the way they might go.
India has the advantage of comparative youth population but in dearth of valuable resources and its access to them, this advantage may rapidly turn into a sheer burden.
A burden that will require more and more inputs at every stage of life but yield almost nothing back to the Nation and society, in general.
If children present vulnerabilities, can we look onto them for solutions?
The problems can be plenty, but we can certainly learn and unlearn a few things from children to tackle the impacts of climate change waiting ahead for the Nation.
Children are always open to learning new things, can quickly adapt to the changing surroundings, become dedicated to any cause of their concern and work upon it incessantly.
Similarly, they are even equally adept at abandoning a few things, for instance the bad habits. They seem to never give-up on their ideas and devise consistent strategies to achieve them.
However, this can happen only with utmost care and inclusive education that this country lacks for sure.
Well, wouldn’t the world be a better place if we can utilize every single human resource available on the planet?