Swami Agnivesh ji (born 21 September 1939) is an Indian social activist, a highly respected humanitarian, a former Member of Legislative Assembly from the Indian state of Haryana and a scholar of Arya Samaj. An unusual Swami, Agnivesh ji has been consistently battling on behalf of the poor, the weak and the defenseless of India. Swami ji's campaigns have led him to fight Alcoholism, Female Foeticide, Bonded labour, Child labour, Emancipation of Women & Corruption. Swami ji has won international accolades for his work. Born as Shyam Vepa Rao in Chhattisgarh, Swami ji received his degrees in Law and Economics in Calcutta; thereafter he worked as a lecturer of Business Management at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, from 1963 to 1968. Swami Agnivesh is a unique man by all counts. He puzzles and provokes at once, and is loved by the masses. Swami ji participates in politics as an outworking of his spirituality. He converges politics with spiritualism and focuses it towards social equality and justice. |
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In the Vedic literature we have a very powerful concept, “Vasudev Kutumbhukum”. Vedas see the entire world as one family. The family as a social institution therefore has great significance. In a family, the youngest child is the weakest in terms of physical capacity; however the youngest is the first one to get his or her food, care and attention from elders. And the Bread Winner or the eldest of the family takes his/her share in the last. This spontaneous spiritual logic, without any economic cost-benefit calculation, helps the family to sustain itself and to grow with all the joys of being together. If only this same spiritual logic could be brought about in the human family. Then the whole world can be a different place. Unfortunately profiteering, capitalism and market globalization has unleashed an opposite phenomenon. The rich and the mighty rule the world and the poor and weak suffer hunger and deprivation. The bond of family is mutual love and trust. And as they say, the birth of the new child shows God's optimism about the future of humanity. The market forces of greed and mistrust are also creating problems in the mutual trust among the family members. Unless we temper this profiteering and exploitation with the spiritual values of sharing and caring, the family as an institution will find it difficult to withstand the onslaught. “Unity is strength” - A united, value based family is strong and can face any ordeal. The winds of becoming modern have changed the composition and complexity of the joint family into the nuclear family system. The real victims of modernization are children and senior citizens. We must restore the values of Indian families, for the betterment of our society, our country and our world. Children are the future assets of our nation. It would not be incorrect to say that every house in India, be it of a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, has a place for worship. There are hardly any Hindu children who have not heard about Ramayana and Mahabharata and been inspired by them. Mohan Das, a young kid who was raised with strong values of love, peace and non-violence by his parents, went on to become Mahatma and father of our nation. Why can we not have more families like that? Children are the hope of humanity. For better relationships, parents must become friends with their children rather than imposing their superiority or their own ways. Every new child brings with him simplicity, divine purity, innocence and spontaneity. |
Parents and elders should be able to take a great gift from God and try to get back their lost innocence through this child. We should learn simplicity and inquisitiveness from children. Millions saw the apple fall, only Newton asked, “Why?”When the family is destroyed, children are destroyed too. When children are destroyed, we destroy the very roots of our nation and hence our nation itself. Confucius said, “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” When we nurture children, we are creating better citizens of our world who can dream, imagine, collaborate, invent and experiment. Children should be encouraged to ask more and more questions about every aspect of life. And the parents must provide answers sincerely. I request parents to make themselves as honest and transparent as possible when dealing with children. Stress and strain on families is increasing. There is not enough quality time between children and parents. Work stress is having a devastating effect on “Family", a basic unit of society. Increasing violence in TV and Games could also be disturbing for our families. Our sense of belonging-ness is fading away and the result is demoralization of family. Kids are expected to be super-kids and parents to be super-parents. Young parents work very hard for their children. I would say to them, please do not live too much in the past or too much in the future. Live moment to moment. Today is a Gift from God, that's why it is called present. Live in the present. I repeat, my dear countrymen, the whole idea of nuclear family is robbing our traditional joint family systems of their warmth and human bonding. As I said earlier, the best way would be to take the spiritual values of family at the level of humanity. Instead, the market forces of capitalism are reducing us to robots or machines of the nuclear family. May God bless our home, our country, our world... With Love and Blessings,
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