Indian Independence Movement and Modern India Essay

I am Chandini C Kurup of class IX B standing here to speak to you on this auspicious occasion of Republic Day As we are celebrating the 64th Republic Day of India, we students have some responsibilities to shoulder, and some duties to plunge ourselves. The contribution of students in the struggle for Indian independence and thereafter in the making of modern India can never be negated. From the prehistoric times to the recent years, students in India have played a significant role in shaping the history, culture and demographics of our beloved motherland. Students are not moved by greed, nor touched by the fanaticism and bigotry between brothers and sisters, in religion or otherwise, nor engulfed by the violence that seems to be a standing libel on the world all around. We students are the most pure, the most energetic. And it is the time for us once more to take the oaths and help the nation march forward. Let us take an oath to explore our country in its history, geography, culture and literature as much as we can. It is a pity that we can name several novelists, artists and musicians of England, France, Germany, Russia and many more foreign countries without much thoughts, but need to reach our notebooks and laptops to name even a few of them from our neighboring states. Let us take an oath to understand the immense power of the Indian culture and tradition that have always been the unity in our rich diversity. India was never a nation before the British rule. Our country was forever decided in numerous political pockets, in fact the very concept of a nation is purely Western, yet the concept of a country united through her culture was always there. Only that culture has been the lifeline of India, despite the number of invasions and aggressions on our motherland. If we forget that culture altogether and rush with closed eyes to imitate the West, the end is near. Let us take an oath to do our duties for the country and the environment. If we do all our rough works in the electronic media, we would save lot of papers and trees to make a difference. We can choose not to accept plastic carry bags and request our friends and relatives to follow us. Once in a week, we can offer free tuition to our needy brothers and sisters. Lots of medicines, old books, and old clothes go waste every year; we can donate them to these organizations as well. Our years old shirts that we hate to put on now will bring smiles to many of our friends in need. Morality is the basis and we must not forget that too. We don’t need to be religious and in fact the maker of modern India, Swami Vivekananda, used to hate the manifold rites and customs that make the gap between religions and the common man. But we need to have faith – faith on God, on the essential goodness of man, on the strength and future of our country, and last but not the least, in ourselves. Our nation is made of none but us, and if we can enlighten ourselves we can enlighten the whole nation. We are the future of India, and the way we make ourselves ready for it will decide the fate of the country in the years to come. All good deeds and attempts are mocked by a class of people we must not be afraid nor ashamed of them. All good deeds are achieved through hardships, and we must toil. But all good deeds bring forth a joy to the core of our heart that none can snatch away, and to our last days of lives, that pleasure is going to be our precious possession for sure. Let us respect our country, our nation, our brave soldiers, our Constitution, our national anthem, and our national flag. As we will follow our ways back to home after this ceremony, we might see paper made tricolor flags torn down from ropes and poles and lying on the street dust like garbage; let us spend a few minutes on our way, today at least, to stop and pick them for a better and respectful disposal. The road ahead is a long one, where we have miles to go. With determination and unity we can move forward. On this special occasion, I urge all of you to show the unity and strength and develop the nation where citizens live with peace and mutual understanding.