National Youth Day celebrated at JU to commemorate Swami Vivekananda Ji's Birth Anniversary

To commemorate Swami Vivekananda Ji’s Birth Anniversary as National Youth Day, the Department of Students Welfare, University of Jammu organized a Lecture cum Interaction Programme on the topic “Life & Teachings of Swami Vivekananda Ji” at Brig Rajinder Singh Auditorium.  Swami Anatarananda from Ramakrishna Mission Jammu was the Keynote Speaker whereas Prof. Manoj K. Dhar,  Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu was the Chief Guest and Prof. Arvind Jasrotia, Registrar, University of Jammu was the Guest Speaker on the occasion. The event which was attended by students, scholars, teachers, staff of the University and members of civil society was organized keeping the SOPs of Covid-19 intact.

In his soulful address, Swami Anatarananda told about the golden thoughts of Swami Vivekananda who believed in concentration and self-confidence which is immensely important to excel in life. He also said that continuous practice and perseverance is required to train one’s own mind and spirit. He very beautifully exemplified that to succeed and to live a meaningful life, our mind must be pure and free of distractions. He narrated Swami Ji’s concept that ‘One who does not believe in oneself is ‘Atheist’ in real sense. Giving example of a classroom where the same teacher teaches but students understand in varied degrees, he aptly exemplified the importance of concentration. In his address, Prof. Manoj K. Dhar congratulated Dean Students Welfare, Prof. Prakash C. Antahal and his team for successfully organising such a programme of high relevance as his first event as Dean Students Welfare. Citing the statistics that around 65% population of India is youth, he asserted this programme as highly relevant and meaningful. Moreover, Swami Vivekanda’s vision has got all the essence which is required to make the youth of the country empowered, positive, courageous and thoughtful. He also emphasised that some of the innovative ventures/projects of Govt. of India like ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’, ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Skill India’ etc. would go a long way in realising the vision of Swami Vivekananda in several senses. He gladly shared that, realising the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi, University of Jammu has taken innovative initiatives such as University of Jammu SPV foundation and Institution Innovation Council under the guidance of Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of J&K Sh. Manoj Sinha to provide entrepreneurship skills to the youth of the region. Prof. Arvind Jasrotia enlightened the audience with his highly spiritual and transforming thoughts giving reference to Bhagwad Geeta, Vedas, Puranas, Uphishads and the quotations from Swami Vivekananda. He very practically cited the concept of ‘Each soul is potentially divine and the goal is to manifest the divinity within’. He also very interestingly distinguished the difference between looking at the things from different perspectives and how it changes one's thought process.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Prof. Prakash Antahal informed that Department of Students Welfare is always prompt in organising such events which inculcate positivity and intellect amongst students, he also introduced the Keynote speaker, Swami Anatarananda who joined the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission’s Branch centre in the year 2000. He served earthquake victims of Gujarat. He has done extensive work among school and college students. He was in charge of Youth activities such as Youth Forum, Different competitions etc. He also did drinking water relief work in the drought area of Marathwada region of Maharashtra. Presently he is posted at Ramakrishna Mission Jammu.

Prof. Anupama Vohra, Chairperson Campus Cultural Committee presented the vote of thanks and expressed gladness over restart of offline activities on the campus with such a noble event. Prominent amongst those who attended the programme included Prof. Jasbir Singh, Controller Examinations, who was also felicitated at the occasion for his contribution as former Dean Students Welfare, Prof Samridhi Arora, Co-Chairperson, Campus Cultural Committee, Prof. Vinay Chauhan, OSD to Vice-Chancellor, Prof. B.K. Bajaj, Associate Dean, SW, Dr. Preetam Singh, Assistant Dean, SW, Heads of the Departments, Faculty members and members of Campus Cultural Committee. The event was conducted by Ifra Kak, Cultural Officer and was coordinated by Mansi Mantoo, Media Officer and Sumeet Sharma, Drama Instructor with technical support from Kulbhushan Thakur and Arif Paul