Jewels of India born on December 25

Hyderabad: On December 25 every year, many parts of India come alive with festive spirit of Christmas with Carol singing, dazzling Christmas lights, decked up Christmas trees, youngsters greeting each other, gift- giving and feasts. It is a blend of cultural festivities and religious observance which symbolises the return of light and hope.

Along with that, it is also a day when some great leaders were born in India that is Bharat. This day is remembered for various reasons. It happens to be the birth anniversary of Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ganganath Jha, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Atal Behari Vajpayee will be remembered for ever for shaping post-Independence domestic and foreign policy. A veteran Parliamentarian whose career stretches over four decades, Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times and to the Rajya Sabha twice, a record by itself. Atal Ji made the first serious attempt to make technology accessible to the common man.

He was a poet and a compassionate leader. A great statesman and served three terms as the prime minister of India - first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for 13 months from 1998 to 1999 and after that a full term from 1999 to 2004.

"Satta ka khel chalega" (the game of power will go on). Governments will come and go. Parties will be made and unmade. This country should survive, its democracy should survive,” he said in Lok Sabha in 1996 when his government faced trust vote which is recalled by many leaders even today in many debates in parliament.

The former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday gained importance as it is celebrated as “Good Governance Day.”

His first brush with nationalist politics was in his student days when he joined the Quit India Movement of 1942 which hastened the end of British colonial rule. As a student of political science and law, he developed keen interest in foreign affairs - an interest he has nourished over the years and put to skillful use while representing India at various multilateral and bilateral fora.

He had tremendous sense of humour. An orator par excellence and was also a composer and writer, a voracious reader.

Similarly, we had other great leaders like Madan Mohan Malavia (25 December 1861 – 12 November 1946), who was not only a great freedom fighter, politician, and educationist, but also a great social reformer.

Ganganath Jha (25 December 1872 – 9 November 1941), was a great scholar of the Sanskrit language. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (25 December 1880 – 10 May 1936) a renowned physician, and a nationalist Muslim leader, who participated in the Indian National Movement and lived in Varanasi and contributed to establish the Nationalist University Kashi Vidyapeeth and Jamia Millia in Delhi.

Another great son of soil was Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972). Rajaji was an advocate, writer, politician, and philosopher. He was the second Governor-General of independent India and the first Indian Governor-General.