Shridhar University Pilani Celebrates National Education Day with Talk on Thirukural & Bhagavad Gita

Online, November 13, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Thirukural 396 says "In sandy soil, when deep you delve, you reach the springs below; The more you learn, the freer streams of wisdom flow" and the meaning is Water will flow from a well in the sand in proportion to the depth to which it is dug, and knowledge will flow from a man in proportion to his learning.

The day is celebrated across India on November 11 to commemorate the birthday of Bharat Ratna Maulana Abul Kalam Azad born this date in 1888, a great freedom fighter, an eminent educationist and the First Education Minister of Independent India.

Azad's thundering lines "Every individual has a right to an education that will enable him to develop his faculties and live a full human life. Such education is the birth right of every citizen" which are excerpts from AIR Broadcast, New Delhi, September 30, 1953 still reverberate in everyone's heart.

No one has doubt that Information is just bits of data while Knowledge is putting them together and Wisdom is transcending them. Education is indeed basic to the creation of an atmosphere in which human beings can meet one another on a plane of friendship and equality. Moulana Azad had played a key role in establishing the UGC and Indian Institute of Technology - IIT at Kharagpur which was followed by other IITs at Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Kanpur which are among top ranking institutions in India today.

For the celebrations at Shridhar University Pilani on 11-11-11, Prof BR Natarajan Pro Vice Chancellor welcomed the students and faculty in the Lecture Theatre and described Abul Kalam Azad as one of those rare personalities through whom the distinctions of the 20th century can be recognized and possibilities of the 21st century determined. He stood for a learning society through liberal, modern and universal education combining the humanism of Indian arts and the rationalism of western sciences, a society where the strong are just and the weak secure, where the youth is disciplined and the women lead a life of dignity - a non-violent, non-exploiting social and economic order.

Giving salient features of the all time Tamil Classic Thirukural which has been translated in very many languages in India and world over, Prof Natarajan explained the significance and meaning of Kurals 391 - 400 which deal with education.

Prof Natarajan also pointed out that the celebrations for this year is significant since Government of India is launching on 11/11/11 a nationwide campaign "Shiksha Ka Haq Abhiyan" to fulfill the national commitment of the Right of Children to free and compulsory education and that a message from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was being read out in all schools across the country.

After giving an overview of various chapters of Bhagavad Gita based on the writings by his Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Prof Natarajan invited Shri Swami Bhanu Prasadji Acharya from Vrindavan Dham to address the students. With his down to earth approach, Swamiji made the students understand the teacher student symbiosis based on the Krishna Arjun interaction at the Kurukshetra battlefield.

The celebrations ended with Prof Natarajan giving customary vote of thanks.