Children's Day 2019: Facts and history behind the celebration

Children’s Day is celebrated on November 14, as a sign to increase awareness of rights, care and education of children. It is held on November 14 as it is also the birth anniversary of India's First Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, fondly known as Chacha Nehru among children. He advocated for children to have basic education. On the occasion of Children’s Day 2019, here are a few interesting facts and history behind the celebration of this day:

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Interesting facts and history of Children’s Day:

History:

Earlier, Children’s Day was celebrated on November 20, as Universal Children's Day by the United Nations. However, after Jawaharlal Nehru’s death, the birth anniversary of Nehru was considered as Children’s Day in India. It was done so because he was very popular among kids and was fondly remembered as Chacha Nehru. Hence, a resolution was passed in the parliament to give a befitting farewell to Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. Nehru was a very strong advocate of the importance of education when it came to children. He was involved in establishing All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management and the National Institutes of Technology.

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Interesting facts:

Jawaharlal Nehru was known as Chacha Nehru for two famous incidents that took place in that era. It is said that Nehru was very fond of kids. It was because of his friendly and warm attitude towards children that kids fondly called him Chacha. Another belief was that Jawaharlal was called Chacha because of his closeness with Mahatma Gandhi. Pandit Nehru was seen as the younger brother of Mahatma Gandhi, whom all referred to as ‘Bapu’. Hence, people suggest he became famous as Chacha for he was seen as the younger brother of the father of the nation.

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Another interesting fact about Children’s Day, in 2018, after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, sixty BJP MPs have requested him to designate December 26 as the new Children's Day in India. Last year, Google's doodle on Children's Day was designed to depict a child looking at a sky dotted with stars with a telescope. Crafted by a student from Mumbai, the design had won the 2018 ‘Doodle 4 Google’ competition in India for her fascination with space exploration. Since then on this day Google always announces the winner of 'Doddle Goggle' on Children's Day. 

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