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Children's day has immense emotion and happiness hidden behind it. It is because it reminds us of our school friends and picnics that were an annual ritual on every Children's day. Children's day is celebrated on 14 November every year and it marks the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India.
The parliament of India decided to celebrate his birthday as Children's day in India because he had immense love and respect for the children and he considered them as the future of our country. Thus, the children's day shifted from 20 November to 14 November in India.
Here is the history of Children's day and a few interesting facts about Jawaharlal Nehru.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was born on 14 November 1889. He adored children, loved them and he loved roses as well. He considered every child to be the future of India thus he believed that they should be treated and educated well to help them create their own magic.
His bold vision was one of the reasons for greater housing and educational options for children across all age groups, genders, and Indian states. In one of his famous speeches, he said, “The children of today will be the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country.”
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru passed away in the year 1964, and in his memory, the parliament issued a resolution to establish his birthday as the official date for the Children’s Day celebration. Earlier, children's day was celebrated in India on 20 November after the United Nations announced that day as Universal Children’s Day in the year 1954. Now, India celebrates Children’s Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister of India.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was from a Pandit family in Kashmir. He had two sisters named Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (elder sister) and Krishna Hutheesing (younger sister).
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru never received the Nobel Prize though he was nominated for the same 11 times between the years 1950 and 1955. Jawaharlal Nehru was nominated largely for his work in peace.
Nehru Ji earned his Honors degree in Natural Science in the year 1910 after he enrolled in Trinity College in Cambridge in the year 1907.
He returned to India in August 1912 and attempted to establish himself as a barrister by enrolling as an advocate with the Allahabad High Court.
Nehru became the Congress President in 1929 and played a major role in the ongoing battle for independence that Congress has been leading.
He also wrote an autobiography while incarcerated in 1935. It was named “Toward Freedom,” which was released in the United States in 1936.
It was on 27 May 1964 when Pandit Nehru passed away after a massive heart attack and around 1.5 million people turned out to witness his cremation.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was sent to prison nine different times during the country's fight for independence. In total, the British imprisoned Nehru for 3259 days, which is equivalent to 9 years of his life.
He was the first one to propose complete National Independence in the year 1927 and forego all ties binding Indians to the British Empire, including the Indian Civil Service (ICS).
Nehru Ji also joined Annie Beasant’s 1916-founded Home Rule League out of tremendous admiration and support for the work of the activist. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is also known as the “Architect of Modern India.”
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