Relevance: GS-1: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Context:

1. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 25th National Youth Festival (NYF) in Puducherry, the host state for the festival , via video conferencing today i.e. 12.01.2022

National Youth Day/ National Youth festival

• The 12th January being the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the great philosopher and thinker, is observed as National Youth Day every year. The week commencing from that day is known as the National Youth Week. As part of National Youth Week celebrations, the Government of India holds the National Youth Festival every year.
• Government of India in 1984 decided to celebrate January 12 as National Youth Day since it believed that it is a great way to evoke the eternal energy of the youth and motivate them which will result in the prosperity of the nation as a whole.
• This is also known as Yuwa Diwas.
• The theme for National Youth Day 2022 is “It’s all in the mind,” a key teaching of Swami Vivekananda.

National Youth festival

• The National Youth Festival in India is an annual gathering of youth with various activities including competitive ones.
• Celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of youth icon Swami Vivekananda, it is organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India in collaboration with one of the State Governments. Thus it is held in a different state each year during National Youth Week, 12 to 16 January every year.
• The National Youth Festival began in 1995
• National Youth festival is one of the biggest events of its kind and the Ministry has been celebrating it with an objective of providing a platform to bring the youth of the country together in an attempt to provide them opportunity to showcase their talents in various activities.

Why National Youth Festival?

• National Youth Festival is organized by the Government of India every year from January 12th to 16th to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda i.e. 12th January.
• The basic objective of the NYF is to bring the youth of the country together in an attempt to showcase their talents in various activities to cover almost all socio-cultural aspects of life, providing an opportunity to amateur young artists to express themselves and interact with fellow artists and to further learn the new art forms from experts of various disciplines.
• The Festival aims to shape the minds of India's youth and transform them into a united force for nation-building. It is one of the biggest exercises in social cohesion and intellectual & cultural integration. It aims to bring diverse cultures of India and integrate them into a united thread of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'.

Key Highlights of the address by PM

• Speaking after inaugurating the 25th National Youth Festival in Puducherry via video conferencing PM said the Democratic dividend of India's youth is unparalleled as along with Demographic dividend the youth of India also has democratic values.
• The Prime Minister stressed that today, if the youth of India has the charm of technology, then there is also the consciousness of democracy. Today, if the youth of India has the ability for hard work, then there is also clarity about the future. “That is why what India says today, the world considers it to be the voice of tomorrow.”said the PM
• PM remarked that today's youth has a 'Can Do' spirit which is a source of inspiration for every generation.
• He said, whenever the national consciousness gets divided, youth like Shankar come and stitch the country in the thread of unity as Aadi Shankracharya. Mr Modi said, in times of tyranny, sacrifices of youth like the Sahibjaade of Guru Gobind Singh Ji guide us even today. He said, when India needed sacrifice for its freedom, young revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, and Netaji Subhas came forward to dedicate their lives to the country. Mr Modi said, whenever the country needs spiritual regeneration, sages like Aurobindo and Subramnayan Bharathi come to the scene.
• Bowing to Swami Vivekananda, the Prime Minister said the birth anniversary in this year of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is all the more inspiring. He noted the added significance of this period as the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo and also the 100th death anniversary of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi is falling in the same period. Mr Modi said, both these sages have a special relationship with Puducherry and both have been partners in each other's literary and spiritual journey.
• The Prime Minister lauded that today, India’s youths are writing the code of global prosperity. The Indian youth is a force to be reckoned with in the unicorn ecosystem all over the world. India today has a strong ecosystem of over 50 thousand startups. Out of which, more than 10 thousand startups came up amidst the challenge of the Pandemic.
• The Prime Minister gave the mantra of New India - Compete and Conquer. That is, get involved and win.
• He also called upon the youth to be vocal and contribute in the drive for cleanliness.

National Youth Summit

• The Prime Minister also inaugurated the National Youth Summit.
• The Summit which aims to galvanize, ignite, unite and activate the youth towards nation building, to unleash the true potential of our demographic dividend. During the summit, the youth will get an opportunity to express their views on current issues like Environment, Climate Change, SDG Led Growth, Technology, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Indigenous and Ancient Wisdom, National Character, Nation Building among others.

Remembering the icon- Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

• Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Dutta on 12th January, 1863 at Calcutta to Vishwanath Dutta, was a successful attorney and Bhuvaneshwari Devi.
• A precocious boy, Narendra excelled in music, gymnastics and studies. By the time he graduated from Calcutta University, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects, especially western philosophy and history.
• He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
• He went on to become a key figure in the introduction of the Indian darsanas (teachings, practices) of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness.
• Swami Vivekananda established spiritual supremacy of India at the World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893. His speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of Universe" became very famous and brought him widespread recognition. He was first Indian to question the superiority of west instead of defending his religion.
• Vivekananda established the monastic order i.e. Ramakrishna Mission in 1897, after name of his guru. It is an organisation which works in the area of value-based education, culture, health, women's empowerment, youth and tribal welfare and relief and rehabilitation.
• Laid the greatest emphasis on education for the regeneration of our motherland. He advocated a man-making character-building education.
• Basic motto of the mission was to provide social service to people, spread the meaning of Vedantic spiritualism and strive for harmony among various faiths and cults
• Vivekananda established Belur Math near Calcutta , which became the center of Mission activities. Another center at Mayawati near Almora was established later.
• He was a Vedantist and he interpreted Vedanta in the light of modern age and this finally came to be known as neo-vedantism.
• Vivekananda proclaimed “Renunciation and service" as the two fold national ideals of modem India. Ramakrishna Mission strives to practice and preach these ideals. The service activities are based on the message of "Jeva is Shiva" form.
• According to Swami Vivekananda 'Service to poor is Service to God'.
• Valentine Chirol author of Indian Unrest described Vivekananda’s teachings as one of the major causes of nationalist movement in India. He was spiritual precursor of India’s freedom movement.
• Swami Vivekananda died on July 4, 1902 at Belur Math.

Vivekananda’s influence

• Vivekananda’s writings and teachings had an impact on many of India’s nationalist leaders, who were fighting against the colonial rule. Subhas Chandra Bose called Vivekananda “Spiritual Father of Indian Nationalism and the maker of modern India” and Mahatma Gandhi credited Vivekananda’s with increasing his “love for his country a thousandfold”.

Some important quotations of Swami Vivekananda:

• “Man is born to conquer nature and not to follow it”
• Arise awake and stop not until the goal is achieved

His message to the youth was, “What I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made.” Through messages like this, he wished to instil basic values into the youth.