Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Republic of India

Ever since I can remember, I have been watching the Republic Day parade every year on the Doordarshan Channel of our TV. It has become like a ritual now to get up in the morning and watch the show of strength by the India Armed forces and the colourful tableaux of various states.
Never in my lifetime I have got bored of watching the same parade year after year. In fact quite contrary to the that I feel a greater sense of pride for my country when I see the soldiers marching by the Rajpath and the final culmination with Fighters from the Indian Air Force fly by.
The Republic day for me always starts with the waving of the our National Flag and the National Anthem being performed by a group of children (I used to be a part of these groups too before I got "MATURED") in our neighbourhood. Though I have moved to a new neighbourhood with different neighbours who are busy in their corporate lifestyles, it is always a pleasure to see everyone gather on this day and pause to take pride in their country's strength and culture.
The only thing that changed for me this year was that I was accompanied by me 1 year old son during the waving of the tricolour. Even though he does not understand much of what I say yet, I kept whispering in his ear about our national flag and the national anthem, hoping that he would grow up to with the same sense of pride for the country. He was a little confused looking at everyone stand in silence when the Tiranga was waved and the national anthem played, but after a while he lay still in my arms looking at the our flag reinforcing my belief that the coming generations would definitely take our country to new heights imagined by our freedom fighters.
LONG LIVE INDIA!!!!!!!!!!

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