October 2nd (A Call back)

Day 2,142, 23:14 • Published in India India • by Sibeesh

Hi guys,
Do you all know the importance of October 2nd???Each and every indians marked this day in their Heart.Here is a small introduction....

Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday celebrated in India on October 2 to mark the occasion of the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the "Father of the Nation". The United Nations General Assembly announced on 15 June 2007 that it adopted a resolution which declared that October 2 will be celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence.It is one of the three official declared National Holidays of India and is observed in all its states and union territories.



Gandhi Jayanti is marked by prayer services and tributes all over India, especially at Raj Ghat, Gandhi's memorial in New Delhi where he was cremated. Popular celebration includes prayer meetings, commemorative ceremonies in different cities by colleges, local government institutions and socio-political institutions. Painting and essay competitions are conducted and best awards are awarded for projects in schools and the community,on themes of glorifying peace, non-violence and Gandhi's effort in Indian Freedom Struggle. Usually, Gandhi's favourite devotional song, Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram is sung in memory of him.
Mahatma was "one man army" who made the British empire yield and obtained freedom for India.It is believed that Mahatma is most "read about" and "talked about" person in the contemporary world.



However, the importance of 2nd October remains incomplete if we do not remember another great son of India - Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was born on the same date.

In my humble way, I would like to pay my tributes to Shastri ji by recalling a few facts of his life -

* His parents were quite poor. During his school days, LBS used to go across river Ganga ( near Varanasi ) to attend his classes. He did not have enough money to pay for boat,hence, he used to swim across, keeping the bag of books on his head.

* When he was Minister of Railways, a major train accident took place.Shastri ji owned up the moral responsibility and resigned.Despite requests for reconsideration from Pt JL Nehru, he did not budge.

* When he was Minister without portfolio, Nehru ji asked him to go to Kashmir, on the issue of holy relics. It was peak winter and Shastri ji did not have enough woolen clothes. Pt Nehru gave his own overcoat to Shastri ji.

* When Shastri ji was Prime Minister,India faced shortage of foodgrains. He appealed to all the Indians to skip evening meals every Monday. Such was the magic of his appeal that all restaurants, bakeries etc used to remain closed on Monday evenings in most cities.

* When he was Prime Minister, Shastri ji took loan to buy an Ambassador Car for his personal use. When he died, some part of the loan was still outstanding.

* It is still a mystery as to how Shastri ji died suddenly when he was attending Indo-Pak summit in Tashkent ( erstwhile USSR ). It is to the honour of this pint sized titan that the President Ayub Khan of Pakistan and Prime Minister Alexie Kosygin of USSR volunteered to be the pall-bearers of the mortal remains of Shastri ji when it was being taken out of the venue of summit meet.



My purpose of writing this Article is two fold -

* To remind all of us about this great man , Lal Bahadur Shastri
* To let the younger generation feel proud of being in the same country where such great men were born.




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