150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Swami Vivekanand

Ex-President Abdul Kalam at Gujarat Youth Conference to mark Vivekanand birth anniversary

“I can do it, we can do it and India can do it. I can win, we can win and India can win”: APJ Abdul Kalam’s mantra to youth

“Skill-Will-Win’ to realize Vivekanand’s dream of making India the global guru through its skills and will power”: Narendra Modi

Ahmedabad, Thursday: Former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today exhorted the youth of India to have firm faith in the self and then resolve to utilize the same faith in the service of the nation through sheer hard work. He gave the mantra: “I can do it, we can do it and India can do it”. If the will is there, he said, “I can win, we can win and India can win.”

He was speaking at the Swami Vivekanand Youth Conference held at Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhinagar to mark the beginning of the Swami Vivekanand’s 150th birth anniversary yearlong celebration.

He cited the examples of Thomas Alva Edison, Wright Brothers, Graham Bell, Madame Curie, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr C.V. Raman, Mother Teresa and J.R.D. Tata, who by their dint of hard work overcame odds. Each youth of India is capable of becoming such ‘unique people’ and ‘personality’.

Dr Abdul Kamal recalled an event that took place in Ahmedabad in 1998 when a girl complained to him that she wanted to sing songs in praise of India but her family members sang in praise of America as a beautiful country with beautiful roads. Dr Abdul Kalam asked the girl to wait till his ‘Vision-2020’ is released.

Inaugurating the conference, Gujarat Chief Minister called upon the youth to adopt the mantra of ‘Skill-Will-Win’ as the best possible tribute to Vivekanand to realize his dream of making India the global guru through its skills and will power. He said Vivekanand Skill Development Centres would be set up in each district in pursuit of the mantra of ‘Skill-Will-Win’. He said that lakhs of youth would show their skills in various fields

Mr. Modi said that Vivekanand had been a source of inspiration to the youth in the past having woken them up from slumber and drudgery of slavery to fierce patriotism as well as the modern youth pride of their culture and heritage. He interpreted the Vedas to explain highest forms of spiritualism in a simple language to rake up inner strength in nation building. India’s spiritualism has such strength that it alone could eradicate social evils like untouchability and superstition.

The Chief Minister recalled that although Vivekanand lived for hardly 40 years he spent his entire life as an eternal wandered and social reformer. It was in the soil of Gujarat that he attained enlightenment near the Somnath temple seacoast. He also had detailed discussions with contemporary revolutionaries like Shyamji Krishna Verma and Nana Saheb Peshwa as to how to free Bharat Mata from the shackles of slavery.

Mr. Modi said that while Vivekanand was in search of God, his guru Ramakrishna Paramahansa showed him the great form of Goddess Mahakali to tell the young mind that god lived in each individual. It brought about a change in his mission in life, to serve the mankind and the motherland. It was again Vivekanand who had advocated women’s empowerment and introduce the conceptdaridra narayanto treat the poor as gods.

Ironically, Mr. Modi said, Swami Vivekanand’s famous speech at the World Conference on Religion in Chicago and the terrorist attack at World Trade Centre took place on 9/11. It sends a strong message for the world to embrace his teachings to come out of global tragedies of the type.

Mr. Modi said that only if 100-crore Indians today take a cue from Swami Vivekanand’s teachings and message and pledge to serve the society, India is sure to become a world leader.