Children's Day (India)

On 5 November 1948, the first Children's Day was observed as "Flower Day" by the predecessor of Indian Council of the Child Welfare (ICCW) to collect funds for United Nations Appeal for Children (UNAC) through the sale of "flower tokens". On 30 July 1949, "Children's Day" was widely celebrated and publicized through radio, articles, cinema, etc.{{Cite book|last=Barooah|first=Pramila Pandit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aMQM4QJ7VQC&dq=%22Flower+Day%22&pg=PA161|title=Handbook on Child, with Historical Background|date=1999|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-735-9|language=en|access-date=16 November 2021|archive-date=17 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117205501/https://books.google.com/books?id=7aMQM4QJ7VQC&dq=%22Flower+Day%22&pg=PA161|url-status=live}}

In 1951, V. M. Kulkarni, a United Nations Social Welfare Fellow, while carrying out a study on the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents in the UK, realized that there was no system to look after underprivileged children of India. Inspired by the Flag Day observed in England on the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II to raise money for "Save the Child Fund", Kulkarni presented a report recommending that Pandit Nehru's birthday could be marked as Flag Day for collecting funds for NGOs working for child welfare in India. When Nehru's consent was sought, he was at first embarrassed but then conceded reluctantly.{{Cite news|last=Joshi|first=Shirish|date=2005-11-12|title=How did Children's Day begin|work=The Tribune|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051112/saturday/main4.htm|access-date=14 November 2021|archive-date=1 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301043445/https://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051112/saturday/main4.htm|url-status=live}}

While Nehru's birthday (14 November) had publicly been celebrated all over India and among overseas Indians, since the 1940s,{{Cite news |year=1947 |title=Pandit Nehru's 58th Birthday Celebrations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tm3qbioRTC0C&q=%22nehru's%2058th%20birthday%22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503233927/https://books.google.com/books?id=MABgvuNNe4QC&q=%22Pandit+Nehru%27s+58th+birthday+celebrations%22 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=14 April 2022 |work=Indian Information |pages=363 |language= |volume=21}}{{Cite news |date=1947-11-18 |title=Ipoh Indians Celebrate Nehru's Birthday |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19471118-1.2.60 |work=Malaya Tribune |pages=5}}{{Cite book |last=Boulter |first=Hilda Wierum |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VB0lAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22Nehru%20Birthday%20Dinner%20In%20New%20York%22&pg=PA59 |title=The Modern Review |date=1947 |publisher=Prabasi Press Private, Limited |volume=81 |pages=59–60 |language=en |chapter=Nehru Birthday Dinner In New York}} with public meetings being organized to pay tribute to him{{Cite news |date=1945-11-15 |title=Indian Rally |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19451115-1.2.5 |work=Malaya Tribune |pages=4}}{{Cite web |date=1947-11-20 |title=ROYAL: Lord Mountbatten pays tribute to Nehru |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/ |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=British Pathé |language=en-GB}} and games for children being held;{{Cite news |date=1948-11-18 |title=PANDIT NEHRU'S 59TH BIRTHDAY: NATION-WIDE CELEBRATIONS |volume=IX |work=India News |issue=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xn2PRp40pn4C&pg=RA9-PA1 |access-date=2 April 2022 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503233927/https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/India_News/Xn2PRp40pn4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA9-PA1&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }} it was only in 1954 that the day was first celebrated as "Children's Day".{{Cite book|last=Brecher|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQcLAQAAIAAJ&q=%22November+14th,+his+birthday,+celebrated+as+Children's+Day+since+1954%22|title=Nehru: A Political Biography|date=1959|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=25|language=en|access-date=3 May 2022|archive-date=2 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402161728/https://books.google.com/books?id=gQcLAQAAIAAJ&q=%22November+14th%2C+his+birthday%2C+celebrated+as+Children%27s+Day+since+1954%22|url-status=live}} More than 50,000 schoolchildren attended the celebrations in National Stadium in Delhi.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iXhDAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Children's+Day%22|title=India, a Reference Annual|date=1955|publisher=Research and Reference Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India|pages=389|language=en|access-date=3 May 2022|archive-date=2 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402162038/https://books.google.com/books?id=iXhDAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Children%27s+Day%22|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|first=|title=Pandit Nehru's Birthday (1954)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWvOnt8siUQ|website=British Pathé (YouTube)|date=13 April 2014 |access-date=13 February 2022|archive-date=13 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213111802/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWvOnt8siUQ|url-status=live}}File:Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Children's Day celebrations, 14 November 1957.jpgIn 1957, 14 November was officially declared Children's Day in India by a special government edict.{{Cite book|last=Ruttonsha|first=Goshasp N. Satarawala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9m2wAAAAIAAJ&q=Children%27s+Day+Nehru|title=Aspects of Child Welfare|date=1965|publisher=Rochouse|pages=42|language=en|access-date=16 November 2021|archive-date=17 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117205503/https://books.google.com/books?id=9m2wAAAAIAAJ&q=Children%27s+Day+Nehru|url-status=live}} The Government of India's Department of Posts and Telegraphs issued first day covers and three commemorative stamps on the occasion of Bal Din ("Children's Day").{{Cite news|date=1958-01-01|title=Children's Day Stamps|volume=3|page=3|work=India News|issue=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1EEqAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Children%27s%20Day%20Stamps%22&pg=PA12-IA65|access-date=14 November 2021|archive-date=3 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503233927/https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/India_News/1EEqAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Children%27s+Day+Stamps%22&pg=PA12-IA65&printsec=frontcover|url-status=live}}

Jawaharlal Nehru was affectionately called Chacha Nehru ("Uncle Nehru") by children, and their faith in him was a constant source of happiness for him. As the Prime Minister, Nehru wanted to "create an atmosphere in the country where the attention is constantly focused on children and their welfare".{{Cite book |url=https://nehruselectedworks.com/pdfviewer.php?style=UI_Zine_Material.xml&subfolder=&doc=May_1956-June_1956-Series2-Vol33.pdf|12|616#page=258 |title=Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru |publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund |series=2 |volume=33 |pages=222–226 |access-date=3 May 2022 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503233930/https://nehruselectedworks.com/pdfviewer.php?style=UI_Zine_Material.xml&subfolder=&doc=May_1956-June_1956-Series2-Vol33.pdf%7C12%7C616#page=258 |url-status=live }} He had also established Children's Film Society India in 1955 so that Indian children could see themselves represented.{{Cite web |title=Children's Film Society, India |url=https://www.cfsindia.org/about-cfsi/who-we-are/ |access-date=2022-02-20 |language=en |archive-date=20 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220162641/https://www.cfsindia.org/about-cfsi/who-we-are/ |url-status=live }}

Regarding Nehru's concern for children and their welfare, M. O. Mathai wrote in his book My Days With Nehru (1979), "Nehru saw in their innocent faces and sparkling eyes the future of India. He was convinced that no amount of money spent on children and their mothers was too much, and that it was a sound investment for the future."{{Cite book |last=Mathai |first=M. O. |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.147284 |title=My Days with Nehru |year=1979 |pages=9 |chapter=Of Animals and Children, Flowers and Plants}} When asked by Ram Narayan Chaudhary in an interview in 1958, if he was fond of children because the future of the country depended on the children, Nehru had replied, "I have always felt that the children of today will make the India of tomorrow, and, the way we bring them up will determine the future of the country."{{Cite book|last=Nehru|first=Jawaharlal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hA0-AAAAMAAJ&q=%22children+of+today+will+make+the+India+of+tomorrow%22|title=Nehru, in His Own Words: His Replies to Various Questions|date=1964|publisher=Navajivan Publishing House|language=en|access-date=10 March 2022|archive-date=2 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402162037/https://books.google.com/books?id=hA0-AAAAMAAJ&q=%22children+of+today+will+make+the+India+of+tomorrow%22|url-status=live}}File:Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru with children.jpgThis philosophy is expressed in the letters written by him to Indira Gandhi, his daughter, when she was a young girl. The letters were also published as books. Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929) and Glimpses of World History (1934) have gained fame as children's non-fiction because, as Deepa Agarwal writes, "any child can respond to their warm, affectionate tone and his lucid and spontaneous style. The wealth of information woven into them and his unique approach to historical facts is an added bonus... communicating humanist values".{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/learning/storytellers-for-children-jawaharlal-nehru-6117676/|title=Great Storytellers for Children: Remembering Jawaharlal Nehru|website=The Indian Express|date=22 January 2020|access-date=2021-02-21|archive-date=1 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101035452/https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/learning/storytellers-for-children-jawaharlal-nehru-6117676/|url-status=live}}

Sir Walter Crocker, however, mentioned in Nehru's biography Nehru: A Contemporary's Estimate (1966) that Nehru did not really have time for or enjoyed the company of children.{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Aakar |title=The Jawaharlal Nehru today's India does not know |url=https://qz.com/india/463197/the-jawaharlal-nehru-todays-india-does-not-know/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Quartz |date=24 July 2015 |language=en |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402120601/https://qz.com/india/463197/the-jawaharlal-nehru-todays-india-does-not-know/ |url-status=live }} He wrote, "Nehru certainly did some acting on public occasions and before the TV cameras; but never much. The acting was never worse than the pose of Cha Cha (Uncle) Nehru with the children. This was at its worst on his birthday for a few years when sycophants organized groups of children, with flowers and copious photographing, to parade with him. It was out of character; his interest in children was slender. But his acting was on the periphery of his personality. He did not fake."{{Cite book |last=Crocker |first=Walter |title=Nehru: A Contemporary's Estimate |publisher=Random House India |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-8400-213-3 |language= |chapter=The Man |access-date=14 April 2022 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQ8p4XTRZgEC&dq=%22It+was+out+of+character%3B+his+interest+in+children+was+slender%22&pg=PT76 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503233929/https://books.google.com/books?id=hQ8p4XTRZgEC&dq=%22It+was+out+of+character%3B+his+interest+in+children+was+slender%22&pg=PT76 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |url-status=live}}

In 2018, sixty MPs of BJP requested the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to designate 26 December as Children's Day. They suggested that December 26, the day of martyrdom of Chhote Sahibzaade (younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh) be observed as Children's Day, while November 14 be celebrated as "Chacha Diwas" in memory of Nehru.{{Cite news |date=2018-04-07 |title=Shift Children's Day away from Nehru's birth anniversary, say BJP MPs |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/shift-childrens-day-away-from-nehrus-birth-anniv-say-bjp-mps/articleshow/63650332.cms |access-date=13 March 2019 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109032305/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/shift-childrens-day-away-from-nehrus-birth-anniv-say-bjp-mps/articleshow/63650332.cms |url-status=live }}

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