Our National Characters

             Since the ancient time India bears a national character of its own. India is a sovereign democratic republic. So democracy is the main feature of its national character. India opted for such a government when she emerged free from the colonial rule. She is the largest democracy in the world. So a democratic constitution is formed which enables Indian masses to elect their representatives for forming a government of their own. In spite of the appalling ignorance and poverty of our mass, India has a structural order capable of evolutionary changes and developments. We have shown to the world our fervent faith in parliamentary democracy which taught us how to accept changes brought through the ballot box.
             The other side of India’s national character is religiousness. 
This religiousness contains purity, honesty and sacrifice. There are many monasteries in India where spiritual training is given. This spiritual character is the principle feature of Indian way of life.
             The basic religious concept comes from the belief in the Supreme God. To attain Him, the people must meditate with the spirit of purity, honesty and sacrifices in their heart. The purity makes our people soft tempered and the honesty of Indian people is well-known to the world.
This national character made India peace-loving and thus fraternity mainly determines India’s foreign policy. India’s religion of love, compassion and equality is spreading widely throughout the world. Even the Americans also became interested in the Vaishavism of India. Thus, from time immemorial courage, purity of mind, honesty of character and the spirit of sacrifice made us nationally integrated and India has become the symbol of love, brotherhood, equality and dedicated service for the suffering humanity. That is why, India was the main leading force behind the seventh non-aligned movement which was based on the spirit of Friendship, Unity and Co-operation.

The Fox and The Grapes

         One summer day a fox felt very hungry and thirsty. He was on the look out for something to eat. He came to a vineyard full of ripe grapes. But they were high up, hanging down a vine. He thought, “Oh, how nice and sweet are these! I must have some of them.” The fox stood upon his hind legs, but could not reach the grapes. He then jumped once, twice, thrice, but all in vain. Each jump was still too short. At last the fox felt sure that he could not get at the grapes by any means.
Just at the moment a friend of the fox came to the spot and said, “Brother, why don’t you try for the grapes? They are ripe and so sweet.”
The fox at once replied: “These grapes are very sour. It is not worth while trying to get them.” So saying he went away,

Moral: When a thing is beyond reach, attribution of sourness to it is the consolation.

Science and Superstition

              Can any country in the world, even the most advanced, say that their people do not have superstition about certain things? In one form or other, superstition seems to exist in even the most advanced countries. Even the advancement of science has not been able to eradicate this bane from the human society.
              Superstition comes in various forms. 13 is considered an unlucky number by most people. In certain parts of the world, a person stops in his track when someone sneezes behind him. A person is asked to sit down for a few moments someone calls him from behind just when he is about to Leave a place.
              But, it is a good sign that with the advancement of time superstition has gone down, if not drastically, at least to some extent. These days most people are not worried about what they cat before they start a journey. These days people are more concerned about the best available facilities one can avail of, rather than depend on the stars and planets to tell them about everything in life.
              Science has helped in getting over some wrong ideas. Previously the eclipse used to be treated as the works of an angry god, but these days it is taken for granted that it is a natural process. But in the villages this idea is still very much present. Recently there was an incident when a young child was sacrificed because the people thought that the sacrifice will make the god happy and will bring blessings in their daily life. One hopes that these sort of things will disappear very fast.

National Integration

          India, a multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-racial country, has always enjoyed the essential unity of cultured amidst diversity that has kept her people united. Great religious and social leaders have; by their preaching from time immemorial, enabled the masses of India to imbibe the spirit of brotherhood. But of late, narrow religious and regional feelings plague the country. Divisive forces are rampant in the Punjab, in the North East, region and in few other parts of the country. This is highly detrimental to the existence of India as a nation. This problem of dissension and disintegration can only be solved by subduing the regional and parochial feelings. Forces of disruption are fed by poverty, lack of education, economic distress and by the indiscriminate partiality of the Centre. To eradicate this, there is the need of alleviating economic distress of the people, but greater is the need of spreading education. Emotional integration of the country as of the highest importance. A genuine sense of oneness of India and a feeling of kinship between one Indian and another should be instilled, in the hearts of the people. This line of action should be started immediately so that the future generation can be taught in this line. Our smaller loyalty is to our states, to our languages, to our religion, doubt, — but our larger and inviolable loyalty is to our entire country— this should be the maxim of all Indians.

A Rainy Day

              The sky was overcast with clouds and I knew It was going to be a heavy rainy day. It was July, The month of rains and raincoats. I did not dare to stir out, but just then came my friend Suvro. He said he had with him two guest cards for a cultural show at the music hall. So we two must go I pointed out to the threatening clouds outside and tried to dissuade him, but to no use.
              I was a fool to put trust in his words. For no sooner had we reached the Street corner than it began to drip-drop. It developed soon into a downpour. We stood squeezed in a bus stand. The blasts of wind gave us a thorough drenching. It seemed the whole sky was melting into rain water and we had been back to the days of Noah’s ark. The road looked like a pool all along. Some paper boats were flowing down the water. Perhaps some children had put them on the flowing water for play. Some vehicles got stuck and looked helplessly around.
              I could see a lone bird that looked afraid, perching on a wayside veranda. I felt sympathy for this poor creature. My friend had lost his optimism by now, for it was still raining incessantly. The music of the rain was the sole substitute for the function at the music hull. I and my friend stood stranded for hours in that bus stop and cursed our lot.

Man and Trees

              Man and trees are inseparable. There is a long association between man and trees. Roth man and trees are dependent on each other and one cannot live without the other. Man exhales carbon die-oxide which trees inhale Trees give out Oxygen which man inhales. Trees maintain the eco-system.

              Trees give us wood, fruits, shelter and what not. From wood we made furniture, doors and windows, ships and so many things. Such things are of great economic value. Trees give shelter to animals, prevent soil erosion, attract rains and add to the beauty of nature. But missives deforestation all over the world is now polluting the environment and making the earth unfit for living. It is also causing much economic loss.

              Environmental pollution and economic losses have now alerted all the world. So massive programmes of Afforestation have been taken all over the world. Every year there is a day for tree plantation. Environmental pollution have become a thing of great concern in India today. So we have taken up programmes for tree plantation. Vano Mahotsava is now observed all over the country. Saplings are planted here and there beside the roads. People are urged to plant and protect trees. Our forests should also be preserved properly.

Obedience

              Obedience means: submission to superior authority or to follow unconditionally an acknowledged code of conduct. In a word, to do what a superior or senior asks us to do is obedience. Obedience, in fact, forms the basis of discipline in the family, at school, or in society.
              Obedience is one of the precious traits in human character. It does not originate from slavishness or fear of punishment. It has its roots in love and loyalty or gratitude and regard for sense of duty. In the family, obedience is always due to our parents or elders because we love them and feel grateful to them for what they do for us. A student at school obeys his teachers because he respects them for what they do to coach his mind and ford sis character. We obey the laws of society because that helps us to live together honorably and peacefully.
              Obedience has a great formative influence on character. It instills into us the qualities of co-operation, tolerance and selflessness. By obeying our parents or elders, teachers or seniors, superiors or the laws of the society, we only learn to control or drill our caprices. That is how we learn to live a co-operative life and grow up to be law-abiding, respectable citizens.
              The success or failure of a human organization certainly depends on two supplementary virtues, — discipline and obedience equally of the subordinates flout the seniors’ instructions, if a soldier challenges his commander’s orders, there will be a total collapse of the society or government. Every social institution or governmental organization needs somebody to give order and somebody to obey and thus human civilization survives and thrives collective.