Building temples in the heart

S.KULANDHAISAMY

Inculcating values with a hidden agenda or vested interest would result in creating a generation with negative approach to life. We have suffered from such orientation in separatist movements and language formulae. Now the value of national spirit or national feeling has emerged. The youth should understand the right meaning of this value.

What does national spirit mean now?Is it serving in the army?Winning a cricket match? Observing the Flag Day? Wearing a national dress? A superficial answer woud be `yes' of course.

According to Mahatma Gandhi, "nationalism, like virtue, is its own reward. A nationalist will ever think of service, never of power or riches".

While we try to find out the real value of this `national spirit', a question raised now is: Whether this spirit would mean `building or demolishing a place of worship' also?

Ours is a beautiful and ancient nation. This is the only country where people belonging to different religions are living in amity and solidarity. The very structure of the fabric of this wonderful nation itself claims, from the youth, a national service in terms of striving to promote and preserve national unity. This may effectively be done by the youth by finding a common purpose, common goal and common sorrows. Unity in the context will mean union of hearts, the trust in each other and in our God.

Mahatma Gandhi says: "All those who are born in this country and claim her as their motherland, whether they be Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, Christian, Jain or Sikh, are equally her children and are therefore brothers, united together with a bond stronger than that of blood... all of us are Indians first and last, wherever we live and to whatever creed or class or province we belong. Religion is entirely a personal matter. Each one can approach his creator as he likes..."

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