‘Bharat is My Home’ is an extract from the speech of Dr. Zakir Husain, He delivered this speech in 1967 after taking the oath as the President of India. In this speech he pledges to be loyal to the nation and work for the welfare of the people of the country.
In this first Presidential speech Dr. Zakir Husain expresses his gratefulness to the people of India for their faith. He is overjoyed, because the people of India have elected him the head of the nation. On this occasion, he remembers Dr. Radhakrishnan, who brought a lot of erudition and wealth of knowledge to the Presidency. He never lost his faith in humanity. Dr. Husain says that Bharat is his home, its people are his family and he has been elected by the family members. This statement expresses his national feelings. He means to say that he does not belong to particular region, creed or class of India.
According to him, our past culture is very important for the nation. It is not dead and static. It is alive and dynamic. Our past glory and culture is the base on which the growth of our national culture and national character depends. We have to build our present on them and determine our future prospect with their help. He advises us to labour hard to build the new life of the nation. He reminds us that the nation demands more and more work from its people. He also advises us to be morally developed and disciplined.
Dr. Husain says that there are two aspects of work. They are work for self and work for society. These both are equally productive aspects of work. When we do our individual work at society level, it becomes social work. The individual cannot grow in full perfection without social help. So, individual and society are co-related to each other.
Thus, Dr. Husain wants to work for the cultural development of the nation. He promises to work for the welfare of the people of India without any distinction of caste, creed and colour.