PrintFriendlyJai Shri Ram! Jai Shri Ram!
My dear culture-lover brothers and sisters who are present here in large numbers! Best wishes to all of you on the auspicious festival of Vijayadashami.
India is a land of festivals. There is hardly a day in 365 days when a festival is not celebrated in any corner of India.
Due to thousands of years of cultural tradition, our life has been associated with many heroic mythological stories and this heritage has given us a strong cultural history. Our country has also made festivals a way of constant rejuvenation of culture, education and collective social life.
The festivals connect us; the festivals also inspire us. Festivals fill us with enthusiasm and also give us the ability to have new dreams. Festivities are present in our blood, so festivals are the soul of India’s social life. And because of this festive element, this thousand-year-old great tradition never had to change into a club culture. Festivals are the best medium of expressing one’s emotions and this is the power of festivals.
During festivals, there has been a continuous effort to refine talent, to give talent a social dignity and to showcase talent. Be it art, be it musical instruments, song or dance; all forms of art are inextricably linked to our festivals. And this is the reason why due to thousands of years of cultural heritage, due to the presence of art in our lives through festivals, we have humans in true sense in our society and not the robots. Humanity, emotions, compassion and kindness are constantly being rejuvenated through festivals.
And so, in these nine days of Navratri, there will be no corner in India where the festival of Navratri will not be celebrated. The festival of Shakti Sadhana, the festival of Shakti worship reduces the shortcomings and insecurities of the inner self. This power is worshipped in a new form by transmitting new power from within.
In this country that worships mother, in this country that worships Shakti, it is the responsibility of all the people and all the citizens to safeguard the honor, pride and dignity of every mother and daughter in this land.
And so this time in the ‘Mann ki Baat’ episode I had said that the festivals in our country had been changing according to the era. We are a society that proudly accepts change. We are also the ones who accept challenges and also throw challenges and we are the people who can change themselves as per the need.
Changes should be brought when there is still time. When someone asks how come we continue to thrive; what is the reason? That is because when there is an evil in our society, then Great men are also born within our society to fight against those evils. When that person of our society goes out to fight against the evils prevailing in the society, initially there is a conflict, but later the same man becomes a venerable ascetic teacher and an inspiration to the society.
And so we are the people who are constantly accepting change. And as people are accepting change, I had said this time in the ‘Mann ki Baat’ episode that on the festival of Diwali we worship Mahalakshmi. We welcome Lakshmi with a great fervent. We have a dream wherein goddess Lakshmi stays with us in our house till the next Diwali or next year. We want Lakshmi to continue to be with us.