In English
IN every country today, men have become power-mad and they resort without any compunction to self-praise, and dry declamation. They develop hatred against others, foster envy and feed their fatal egos. They plunge the society to which they belong in fear, anxiety and disorder. They do not know that if elevating ideals are adhered to and practised, they could gain eternal fame; they are content with cheap applause and shortlived publicity. You have gathered here today, since this is Festival day, the day reckoned by you as the day that ushers in a new year with a new Name. This day in New Year Day only because you have decided to call it so; it is not astronomically or climatically or meteorologically different from yesterday or tomorrow. Even as New Year Day, many hundreds of thousands of such Days have happened on this globe and many thousands have been celebrated as Festival Days too. So too, this day has come and this too will be gone. If the New Year Day is used by any one to begin a new way of life, a new step towards self-realisation or self-enlargement through service, then the Celebration has a meaning and significance. Otherwise, it is devoid of value. The red letter on the calendar, which indicates this Day as separate from others is a warning and a reminder of this duty that you owe to yourselves.