{"id":8293,"date":"2019-12-18T06:15:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T00:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/udaen.info\/?p=8293"},"modified":"2019-12-18T06:15:09","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T00:45:09","slug":"creation-of-new-india-has-to-be-an-inclusive-process-vice-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/?p=8293","title":{"rendered":"Creation of New India has to be an inclusive process: Vice President"},"content":{"rendered":"
Creation of New India has to be an inclusive process: Vice President<\/p>\n

Says New India will be an innovation and knowledge hub Delivers 6th Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lecture in Delhi Need to bring in elements of spontaneity, creativity and aesthetic sensibility into education system – VP Calls for cultural renaissance and stresses the need to protect and promote Indian civilizational values and traditions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu today said that creation of New India has to be an inclusive process and called upon the people to continuously strive towards its realization.<\/p>\n

Delivering the 6th Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lecture, organized by the Shimla-based Indian Institute of Advanced Study in New Delhi, he said that the Prime Minister has outlined a vision for New India and endeavor to make a new vibrant India by 2022.<\/p>\n

Observing that the aim was to uplift poor and downtrodden sections, he said: \u201cThis is possible only if 1.25 billion Indians join this effort to create a \u2018Sankalpit Bharat, a \u2018Sashakt Bharat\u2019, a \u2018Swachch Bharat\u2019 and a \u2018Shrestha Bharat\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Recalling the similar vision shared by Rabindranath Tagore, Shri Naidu quoted him as saying, \u201cThe real problem in India is that we must make the whole country creation of our own. A creation in which all the communities and individuals will participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stating that it would be a day of great glory and pride when India celebrates its 75 years of Independence in 2022, the Vice President said that he was confident that New India would be an innovation and knowledge hub with promising young digitally-empowered entrepreneurs, technocrats, scientists and academics working in tandem to find indigenous solutions to various problems from climate change to increasing agricultural productivity.<\/p>\n

Referring to the institutions established by Rabindranath Tagore, he said that Santiniketan was an experiment to link education with life, connect students with nature and develop a harmonious, well-rounded personality. \u201cWe need to bring in these elements of spontaneity, creativity and aesthetic sensibility into our education system\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

Paying eloquent tributes to Gurudev Tagore, the Vice President said that Rabindranath Tagore\u2019s timeless vision has great relevance for India and the world even to this date.<\/p>\n

The Vice President said that Rabindranath Tagore wrote prolifically and his views on various themes like education, nature, nationalism, internationalism, feminism, religion, language, caste system, reflect the astonishing range of his multi-faceted genius. \u201cHe was truly a Vishwa Kavi, cast in the mold of ancient Vedic rishis who gave us the universal vision of \u201cVasudhaiva Kutumbakam,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Vice President said one must note Gurudev\u2019s wise counsel on how we could revitalize Indian education by connecting to the grand tradition, drawing from the best minds and rediscovering our strengths.<\/p>\n

Calling for protecting and promoting age-old Indian civilizational values, traditions and ethos, he stressed the need for a cultural renaiisance.<\/p>\n

Mentioning that Tagore shared Gandhi Ji\u2019s vision of Grama Swarajya and that development of rural areas was a major step towards real freedom, the Vice President said that Tagore echoed Gandhian call for \u201cconstructive programme\u201d and rural upliftment or Gram Swarajya in his writings.<\/p>\n

The Vice President said that Rabindranath Tagore believed that knowledge was a key driver of country\u2019s transformation and therefore advocated that scientific research should help villagers to improve the quality of their lives. Quoting Tagore he said, \u201cThe only way to change things is to apply our newly acquired knowledge of economics, agriculture, health, and all other everyday sciences in the neglected villages.\u201d<\/p>\n

On this occasion, the Vice President also released the book titled ‘Swami Vivekananda -Hinduism and India\u2019s Road to Modernity’ written by Prof. M. Paranjape.<\/p>\n

The Chairman, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Professor Kapil Kapoor, Member-Secretary of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Shri Sachidanand Joshi, Director of IIAS, Professor Makarand R. Paranjape, Secretary, IIAS Dr VK Tiwari were among the dignitaries present at the event.<\/p>\n

Following is the full text of the speech \u2013<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Kapil Kapoor ji, Chairman, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shri Ram Bahadur Rai ji, Chairman, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Professor Makarand R. Paranjape ji, Director, IIAS, Colonel Vijay K. Tiwari Ji, Secretary, IIAS, Distinguished Academicians, senior officials, sisters and brothers.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much for inviting me to deliver the prestigious 6th Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lecture, organized by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, a premier Institution for higher learning and research not only in the country but around the globe.<\/p>\n

I feel specially privileged to deliver this lecture at a time when Gurudev Shri Rabindranath Tagore\u2019s timeless vision seems to have\u00a0 great relevance for India and the world.<\/p>\n

Dear Sisters and Brothers,<\/p>\n

The theme of today’s lecture is ‘Vision for New India’.<\/p>\n

Every one of us has a vision of what our country should be like.\u00a0 The men and women who fought for our country\u2019s independence had a vision. They wanted our country to be free of colonial rule. The Constitution makers had a vision of how we should govern after we become independent.\u00a0 Seventy years after we adopted our Constitution as the framework of our democratic system, we are now reviewing our past experience and are dreaming of the future India we all want to see.<\/p>\n

It is natural for us to dream. But for translating this dream into reality, there has to be a steely determination, committed competent implementation, honest introspection and agile course correction.<\/p>\n

Dear sisters and brothers,<\/p>\n

Our dreams are grand because they are drawn from the dreams of our predecessors, or ancestors, the dreams that inspired the world over the last twenty centuries.\u00a0 These are the dreams that found eloquent expression in the Vedic hymns, in the epics like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, in the universal vision of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita, in the poetry, music, dance, art and architectural treasures and in the wisdom of social reformers and saint composers. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, like Gandhi ji, belongs to this illustrious lineage of visionary leaders.<\/p>\n

Mahatma Gandhi had called him \u201cthe great sentinel\u201d, a great moral force in India\u2019s struggle for independence.<\/p>\n

As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru says in the \u2018Discovery of India\u2019, \u201cTagore represented essentially the cultural tradition of India, the tradition of accepting life in the fullness thereof and going through it with song and dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabindranath Tagore wrote prolifically. His views on various themes like education, nature, nationalism, internationalism, feminism, religion, language, caste system, reflect the astonishing range of his multi-faceted genius. He was truly a Vishwa Kavi, cast in the mould of ancient Vedic rishis who gave us the universal vision of \u201cVasudhaiva Kutumbakam\u201d.<\/p>\n

If I were to extract three key elements out of numerous important themes that emerge from his writings, I would like to look at the three institutions he established and what they symbolized for him. I am referring to Santiniketan, Sriniketan and Viswabharati.\u00a0 His ideas on education, rural reconstructions and international cooperation are as relevant for us today when we are dreaming of a new India as they were nearly hundred years ago.<\/p>\n

Santiniketan was an experiment to link education with life, connect students with nature and develop a harmonious, well rounded personality.\u00a0 As Gurudev describes it, \u201cI selected this spot where the sky is unobstructed to the verge of the horizon. There the mind could have its fearless freedom to create its own dreams. I was their companion. I sang to them. I composed musical pieces, operas and plays, and they took part in the performances.\u00a0 I recited to them our epics, and this was the beginning of this school.\u201d<\/p>\n

This school was like the ancient Gurukula and sought to make education a \u201cpart of life itself\u201d and \u201cnot be detached from it and be made into something abstract.\u201dAs Tagore explains,\u201cI tried to arouse their interest in all things, in nature\u2019s beauty and the surrounding villages, and also in literature. I tried to educate them through play-acting, through listening to music in a natural manner, and not merely by class teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

We need to bring in these elements of spontaneity, creativity and aesthetic sensibility into our education system.<\/p>\n

We need to blend knowledge with joy. As Gurudev says, \u201cI wished to place the penance for knowledge on the pedestal of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

We should also note Gurudev\u2019s wise counsel on how we can revitalize Indian education by connecting to the grand tradition, drawing from the best minds and rediscovering our strengths: \u201cThe Indian heart will again be full when our education is a blend of the Vedic, Puranic, Buddhist, Jain and Islamic minds. That is how India will grasp the unity in its diversity. We must rediscover ourselves in this connected way or else our education will not be our own. No nation can thrive on imitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a timely reminder that we should innovate not imitate. We should build on our strengths and learn from the best minds.<\/p>\n

Rabindranath Tagore laid great focus, like Gandhiji, on rural areas and demonstrated what rural reconstruction should look like in his Sriniketan. While discussing about Sriniketan, his long-cherished dream, in the essay, \u2018The Centre of Indian Culture\u2019, he said, \u2018\u2018If we could free even one village from the shackles of helplessness and ignorance, an ideal for the whole of India would be established. Let a few villages be rebuilt in this way, and I shall say they are my India. That is the way to discover the true India.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further he elaborated his ideas and defined the objective of Sriniketan. Writing in the Viswabharati Bulletin in 1928, he said, \u201cThe object of Sriniketan is to bring back life in its completeness into the villages making them self-reliant and self-respectful, acquainted with the cultural tradition of their own country and competent to make an efficient use of modern resources for the improvement of their physical, intellectual and economic conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

For him, rural development was a major step towards real freedom.\u00a0 This echoes the Gandhian call for \u201cconstructive programme\u201d and rural upliftment or Gram Swarajya.<\/p>\n

He had said, \u201cWhen acquaintance with, practice of, and pride in cooperative self-determination shall have spread in our land, then on such broad abiding foundation alone may swaraj become true.\u201d<\/p>\n

This, in fact, is the spirit of the devolution of powers to the villages and municipal bodies envisaged in the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments. I am glad that the present government is also working on all aspects of rural development. We cannot afford to ignore the rural-urban divide any more.<\/p>\n

Tagore believed that knowledge is a key driver of country\u2019s transformation and therefore advocated that scientific research should help villagers to improve the quality of their lives. According to him, \u201cThe only way to change things is to apply our newly acquired knowledge of economics, agriculture, health and all other everyday sciences in the neglected villages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tagore was convinced that knowledge has no territorial boundaries and that we are all, as humanity, linked to each other. He wanted to reinforce these civilizational and cultural ties through the institution of \u201cViswabharati\u201d. It was a major step to take forward international cooperation in the cultural and intellectual field.<\/p>\n

As Tagore himself said, \u201cViswabharati represents India where she has her wealth of mind which is for all. At no other period of history has mankind as a whole, been more alive to the need of human cooperation, more conscious of the inevitable and inescapable moral links which hold together the fabric of human civilization\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tagore\u2019s vision was broad and universal. He saw the best aspects of both the West and the East. He wanted to synthesize the two and promote cross- cultural learning. To quote Pandit Nehru, \u201cTagore has helped to bring into harmony the ideals of the East and West, and broadened the bases of Indian nationalism. He has been India\u2019s internationalist par excellence, believing and working for international co-operation, taking India\u2019s message to other countries and bringing their messages to his own people.\u201d As an example of a true Indian rooted in the Indian soil but with a global outlook, Tagore admiringly cites the \u201crespectful receptiveness\u201d of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who was \u201csteeped in the best culture of his country, he was capable of finding himself at home in the larger world.\u201d<\/p>\n

These were just three pearls from the ocean of thoughts that Gurudev has left us as a lasting legacy. They provide three dreams we could possibly integrate into the vision for a new India we are trying to create. There are of course many more that could be useful embellishments to our new creation. The creation of new India has to be an inclusive process. Prime Minister Narendra Bhai Modi ji has set the overarching framework as \u201cSabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sab ka Vishwas\u201d. Gurudev Tagore with a similar vision, had said, \u201cThe real problem in India is that we must make the whole country a creation of our own. A creation in which all the communities and individuals will participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a matter of great pride for us that the image and stature of our nation is on the rise in various fields \u2013be it economic, academic, geo-political influence, defence, sports, science, IT and space technology.<\/p>\n

Dear Sisters and Brothers,<\/p>\n

It will indeed be a day of great glory and pride when India celebrates its 75 years of Independence in 2022. However, we must not remain complacent and be content with status quo. We must continuously strive and channelize our energies towards creation and realization of a New India where the head is held high and, as Gurudev Tagore said, \u201cthe world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Honorable Prime Minister has outlined a vision for New India, the endeavor to make a new vibrant India by 2022. This is possible only if 1.25 billion Indians join this effort to create a \u2018Sankalpit Bharat, a \u2018Sashakt Bharat\u2019, a \u2018Swachch Bharat\u2019 and a \u2018Shrestha Bharat\u2019.<\/p>\n

I am confident that the New India will be an innovation and knowledge hub with promising young digitally-empowered entrepreneurs, technocrats, scientists and academics working in tandem to find indigenous solutions to various problems from climate change to increasing agricultural productivity.<\/p>\n

I wish the Chairman, Director, faculty members and all other staff of this institute all the best in their efforts to catalyze development through knowledge and contribute to the national endeavour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creation of New India has to be an inclusive process: Vice President Says New India will be an innovation and knowledge hub Delivers 6th Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lecture in Delhi Need to bring in elements of spontaneity, creativity and aesthetic sensibility into education system – VP Calls for cultural renaissance and stresses the need to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8294,"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8293\/revisions\/8294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/udaen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}