TIMES change, but things go on as they always have. Take childhood, for example. It is the dawn of life, and so it will remain as long as every child brings the message that Providence has not altogether despaired of Man.
To every child, the world seems to have been newly born, as if for the child alone. From infancy to toddler and school-going age, every child is a bundle of joy.
This is the happiest time of life, when the child begins to be the father of Man! This is why Walter de la Mare insisted that little children deserve the rarest kind of the best, because this is the time of life when foundations are laid — that of a nation and a civilization.
Planners and promoters of the Children’s Day (the UN-sponsored World Children’s Day falls on November 20) must be haunted by the memories of their own childhood when fixing a theme from year to year.
A theme is no doubt important (as in drama, poetry or novel), but it is not the end of it. A mere theme slumps if thought and action do not lend countenance to it in the real drama of life. What good is a theme that might make a stir for a day and is then forgotten until the next theme is announced?
Don’t you agree that every Children’s Day must serve as a sharp and urgent reminder of de la Mare’s most reasonable expectations? Children’s care needs to become an integral part of public policy and a feature of election manifestos.
The fact must be noted that today’s children are tomorrow’s voters and inheritors of the world, the future upholders of democracy. Childhood is the proper time to build up worthiness in our children right from now, because this wonderful time comes only once in a lifetime and that, too, for a short period.
Worthy are those politicians who keep their eyes fixed not on the next election, but on the next generation by inculcating universal values, civic virtues and quality of life from the very dawn of life. This is an area where NGOs can play a positive and vital role.
TIMES change, but things go on as they always have. Take childhood, for example. It is the dawn of life, and so it will remain as long as every child brings the message that Providence has not altogether despaired of Man.
