Should Christmas be observed as a festival in India?

NEW DELHI: Here comes the Christmas Eve and one of the most celebrated festivals around the world. Christmas is a Christian holiday to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. The tradition to go with it calls for exchanging of gifts with your near and dear ones. This day does spread the spirit of joy and fervor.

But at the same time, we being Indians must not forget our heritage and custom values. We should celebrate other festivals also but not at the cost of throwing wind to our own heritage. It should be a matter of concern for our society that we have been under the tremendous influence of western culture. And as a result of it, our younger generation is lagging behind in many of our cultural values.

There are few other occasions of great significance which comes around Christmas only but they are been overlooked by our own people, have a look below:

Birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

There are very few people who remembered the great deeds of leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee on this day. He has been the strength of pillar strength to our nation for many years. Vajpayee was also the former Prime Minister of India and man behind many of the successful economic reforms like the introduction of Fiscal Responsibility Act, Privatization, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Telecom revolution and many more. It was his dedication to serve the mother nation that enabled India to garner some global reputation.

Swami Shraddhanand Martyrs' Day

Even some days back, it was Swami Shraddhanand Martyrs' Day on 23rd of December. But again, no one even talked about it and nor it was covered by our media extensively. He was the founder of Arya Samaj and helped in rebuilding the entire Indian nation & Hindu society. He launched campaigns agents Untouchability and even proved that there was no such thing ever existed in our Vedas. He also raised his voice against child marriage and widows' remarriages which were very much prevalent during those days.

Tulsi Pujan Diwas

December 25, is also marked as Tulsi Pujan Diwas by the Hindu community. Tulsi plant is regarded as sacred and a source of prosperity. It also produces more oxygen as compared to other plants and is holds great medicinal values. There is also a mention of Tulsi plant in Hindu scriptures. But again, there was almost no mention of it, neither it was carried the way Christmas articles and news were covered by our media houses.

So, we should honor our days and public figures like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Swami Shraddhanand and pay rich tribute to their work and achievements. And it can be only possible if we pay more attention to our history and culture, rather going after other glittery things.