May 2007 - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

most ancient and most durable
civilization. She has survived the most
threatening challenges and now stands
poised to take on more. Youth must play
their role, not only for the sake of India,
but for the rest of the world as well. In a
world where the intelligentsia of the most
“advanced” nations speak about the
inevitability of “clash of civilizations”
and “conflict of religions”, it is only
India with an unblemished history of
harmony and co-existence among
cultures and civilizations that can show
the way. It is only India, even in the most
ancient days, proclaimed to the world
that “Truth is one, but wise men call it
by various names”. India has given
asylum to the persecuted refugees of
various countries and religions – the
Jews and Parsis are examples – in her
bosom. India can, and must play, must
provide the healing touch to the
wounded world. This is a historical duty
handed down to the young generations
right from the ancient times.
But for this to happen we have to
remake India. ‘We’ means the youth of
today standing on the shoulders of yester
years. For this they must equip
themselves, physically, emotionally,
intellectually and spiritually. More over,
along with all these equipments they
should also have a grand vision of the
future. They do have the potentiality
and creativity; they should express it,
and they want to express it. That is why
their hearts were thrilled, and they have
started responding to the call of our
visionary president, A. P.J. Abdul
Kalam, when he spoke about “Vision of
India 2020”. Youth of India must
internalize this vision and develop
powerful “ wings of fire” to lead the
country to this glorious vision.
What is a vision Vision is not day
dreaming, a futile exercise of time and
energy. Vision is defined as “the ability
to see the invisible”. It is the ability to
see beyond the obvious. Dreams are
involuntary and nebulous; they seldom
materialize. Vision is a part – projection
of your soul, the result of your intense
contemplation and commitment. It can
be materialized. The difference between
achievers and non-achievers is that the
former has vision whereas the later has
only eyesight. To have eyesight without
vision is worse than having no eyesight.
Poor eyes limit your sight. But poor
vision limits your actions. So a clear
vision is the need before every youth,
every society, and every nation.
But vision is a distant goal. It is like
the pole star or the mount Kailas. To
reach it requires thorough knowledge of
YUVA BHARATI - May 2007
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