Bal Diwas

November 14, 2016 12:44 PM

The 14th of November has been celebrated as Children's Day in India since 1964. Also known as Bal Diwas, it is Chacha Nehru's birthday.
posted by infini (7 comments total)

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posted by infini at 12:45 PM on November 14, 2016

Why Nehru's birthday? Was it a commemorative thing, or what?
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:41 PM on November 14, 2016

I was taught at school that it was because Nehru was fond of children and very committed to improving things (education, access to healthcare) for children as PM. This sounds like a bit of a handwave to me now; I think they wanted to pick a thing to commemorate him for after he died, and decided to merge it with the existing Children's Day idea.
posted by Aravis76 at 2:08 AM on November 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

I see that Arun Jaitley is choosing to commemorate Nehru's birthday by a promise to "instil nationalism in every child". That's like celebrating Martin Luther King with a Blue Lives Matter hashtag. It pretty much encapsulates the collapse of Nehru's legacy in India. Of course Nehru was a nationalist in a limited sense - he believed India ought to be an independent country - but he spoke against the Jaitley/Modi kind of nationalism all his life.
posted by Aravis76 at 2:19 AM on November 15, 2016

We were attempting to tour Delhi 2 years ago on Children's day. It was chaos at all the tourist sites! But the kids all seemed happy to see us and my 6-year-old was a bit hit, with dozens of girls clamoring to say hi to her.
posted by csmithrim at 9:33 AM on November 15, 2016

what do you get your child on Bal Diwas?

How about an eye-watering £59 million pound wedding?
posted by Wilder at 5:46 AM on November 16, 2016

You have to spend it if it can't be explained away to the RBI ;p
posted by infini at 11:37 AM on November 16, 2016