Republic Day : The day as I saw it.

No matter how cynical and apathetic I may have become, Republic Day(26th January) always makes me swell with pride.The martial tunes, the sonorous drum beats, the thud of a thousand marching boots, and that crisp salute snapped to the Presidential dais are now like activities, which I am not connected to so much.

Those early wake ups from the bed and rushing to school in the cold but for me it was just another day, which was made special with a feeling of accomplishment when I saw a post stating it as someone's first anniversary. So I went out and took some shots with my camera and this is dedicated to Desicritics and the galaxy of writers who contribute to this forum in their own special way.


[The Governor of Karnataka taking the salute at Maneckshaw Parade Ground in B'lore.]

Who are these people and how did all this happen ? These are people scattered round the globe, who focus on exploring what it means to be South Asian, in every walk of life. These are a bunch of people who actually sit down after a long day at work be it professional or domestic chores, students from under-graduate courses to doctoral fellowship programs, etc. They are doctors , teachers , people who want to make this world a better place , press correspondents , techies , online-talk show producers , writers , multi-skilled individuals , blog-a-holics , coaches, cartoonists, poets , etc to name a few. Check for the entire list here.

These people blog and write about their state of mind, views, reviews or the state of the nation or the latest blockbuster running in the theatre down the street, in short any and every topic one can think of under the sun and the moon provides adrenalin for the posts.

More than time and energy, it's the passion that drives the show. The road is long and we have miles to go and like in a magical journey called 'life', this travel also has its share of problems [spam], issues [comments being taken in an in-correct/personalized perspective] but then we stop, introspect and resolve the subjects of concern and march ahead.

Few people , have nurtured, parented and nourished this forum like their own children and with time, dreams are high to see this child grow into a mature individual. That's the world that the Desicritics live in, and they patted themselves with the first anniversary gift today on this Republic Day.

But the world I live in today celebrates the Republic Day this way.

As India celebrated its Republic Day today, patriotism was the most saleable marketing gimmick across the country as companies pulled at the heartstrings of millions of Indians.

Indians were encouraged to wear patriotism on their sleeves by a special range of clothing churned out by fashion designers and shops. Flip the newspaper and half of it was about the discount offers by stores and malls starting from clothes to food coupon discounts. Malls had theme sales too. A collection of patriotic film songs down the ages packaged in tricolour in VCDs and in audio CDs were placed in the racks of Music World and Planet M music shops across city with enthusiastic parents buying it in the hope of instilling some nationalistic fervor in their children. I found more phirangs purchasing those stuff than did Indians.



Various radio channels also chipped in with their Republic Day message, through special countdowns of number one songs from 1950 to 2007, a non-stop run of patriotic film music. Mobile phone operators also offered their special freedom bonanzas to download ringtones based on patriotic songs.

Very near to my house I found young boys were peeping into windows of other cars and even forcing the riders on two wheelers to buy the plastic national flags and the tri-colour badges.



The national flag come in varied sizes and shapes, small plastic ones for use and throw which will later choke the street pathways and the big ones flutter on the auto's front shield.



Though for many people, even the reminder that we are a 58 year old Republic will not change their lives but then "Arre bhai,jaisa bhi hai, I like India and I like its colors and its vibrancy".


[ My shutter work for DC team, created both the idea and the subject for this photo.]









[ All the pics were taken on 26th Jan'07, incase you need any of these, drop me an email (it's on my profile). It's not for me but you are making the tri-color, aapka aur mera tiranga proud. ]

Keep reading and remain connected.

[ Note: I write for the site Desicritics, and last year when we started the journey, we were focussed on what our goal was. Today with 300+ bloggers in the desi blogosphere covering a wide variety of topics, we hope to get better and better.Desicritics alias DC was adjusted the 5th Best Blogsite in Asia popularly known as "The Weblog Awards", the world's largest blog competition. ]