The Soul of a Republic

I must admit that I have very romantic childhood memories of the Republic Day. I remember that on every 26^th January day my parents would wake up my sisters and me early in the morning and make us bathe and have our breakfast before the parade started on Rajpath at around 9 am. The three of us would sit close to each other, almost cuddled up under a rajai (a winter blanket) and we would watch the parade on the television from the very beginning to the very end. And I clearly remember being amazed by the impressive show of the nation’s military might and cultural richness.

Today, I understand with much greater clarity the meaning and the significance of the Republic day. I may have lost the childlike fascination of yesteryears for 26^th January. And I may not anymore be overawed by its grandeur, but I believe that today, somewhere in the depths of my conscience, the day inspires me even more. And I believe that the feeling is shared by the generation of young Indians. Today we live in a free country which is brimming with confidence, energy and potential, a country which has made rapid progress in all spheres of life, a country which has lifted and promises to lift millions trapped in crushing poverty, a country which is at the cusp of realising its true position in the world order.

India, in its short history as an independent nation has indeed travelled a long distance, but the road so far was not easy, it was treacherous. Free India has been through tumultuous and testing times, the country faced and in some senses still continues to face threats emanating from both within and without. But we as a nation have lived through all of them and we have not just survived but also thrived.

At the time of our independence the prominent world powers believed that India could not possibly stay as a cohesive single country. The popular notion was that a country as large, as poor, as under-developed and as diverse in its regional, religious, linguistic and ethnic composition as India could not possibly succeed to stay united for too long a time. And that such a chimera of a nation would rather fracture and collapse under the weight of its heterogeneity. But as if by magic, we survived, we succeeded in proving the skeptics wrong.

How could a country with such difficult circumstances and such a troubled neighbourhood manage to do what we have managed to achieve? The question is very difficult but the answer, as I see it is rather simple!

We could survive as a nation and make progress as well because we had visionary leaders like Dr. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution of India; Pandit Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India who implemented democracy in both letter and spirit; Sardar Patel who consolidated the country as an entity and above all Mahatma Gandhi who taught the nation the virtues of tolerance, brotherhood and non-violence. I believe it was precisely this strict adherence to the Constitution and the upholding of principles of democracy that in final analysis today differentiates India from the struggling democracies and failed states which are peppered almost all over the world. Thus it comes as no surprise that in an incredibly vast and diverse region stretching from the shores of North Africa to the shores of East Asia, India is the only country which has a genuinely functioning democracy. Where the Governments are elected, well and truly by the people and the transition of power has had happened smoothly, without any violence, and if I may add, each and every time.

So what again is the significance of the day? Well, the day of 26^th January symbolizes the spirit of India’s independence, the emergence of Republic of India as a sovereign, secular, socialist and peace loving nation. It is a celebration of our national principles and values.

The day was 26^th January, 1950 when the Constitution of India was adopted and India became a Republic, so this year when we celebrate the 61^st Republic Day, I am sure my fellow countrymen would cherish the very soul of our nation, the Constitution of India. For it is because of the undying belief in the Constitution that India has made big strides on the path of progress and development and for it will be the guiding spirit, the flaming torch that shall show us our path in the future.

Jai Hind!

Deki's Home Coming...

"Ladies and Gentlemen the plane has landed in Delhi", announced a feminine voice laced with a thick Russian accent. Before she could complete, people sprang to their feet and jammed the aisle, "mummi I am home", nearly screamed a guy jubilantly on his phone, the voice meanwhile continued, "please do not switch on your cellphones and kindly remain seated"...

As I walked past the visibly bored health inspectors, wearing flimsy masks, a tired voice asked me for my H1N1 form (a novelty in air travel to India these days), a young girl seemingly sleep deprived and with no interest in what so ever she was doing, randomly placed a stamp impression on my form, and nearly threw it back at me, before I could understand what was going on, shouted, ‘next’…

As I dragged myself out of the terminal with my extra home leave luggage, a sudden realization dawned upon me, and very distinctively I felt that I was back! A huge mass of people swarming the reception area, some standing and waiting, others shouting in excitement and waving excitedly, still others just lying on the pavement and having a quick sleep, but most jumping over each other and stretching and bending their necks at impossible angles…

My dad was a bit late in reaching the airport to receive me, so I got to see more of the chaos and pandemonium playing around. Amongst the first things I noticed was the filth and garbage, literally littered all around me, it was more omnipresent and I could have sworn, than God-Almighty himself/herself! At a distant corner were two security guards, in their not so smart uniforms and even less impressive postures. One had a big paunch and was blissfully smoking a bidi, the other one had his 303-rifle carelessly slinging from his shoulder, as he more intently scratched the extremes of his upper thighs.

“Madam one minute, your prepaid taxi here, one minute, one minute…”, assured a small greasy looking man in a torn t-shirt and dirty beyond description trousers, to a Russian woman with a child. “Ustadji…”, another shout from the short guy and rumbled an old and badly dented ambassador car, the woman looked quite shocked and was quite clearly left completely speechless; but after a few intense minutes of concerted assurances by the greasy little guy and his ustadji, she nervously decided to board. But then, the car would not move! So after a short spell of loud shouts a few more equally suspicious looking guys emerged out of nowhere and pushed the car to ignition. And I suddenly remembered reading inside the terminal, under the Incredible India advert, a rather welcoming message, ‘For your own safety hire only prepaid taxis’.

So as I waited for my dad, a sweeper showed up, shabbily dressed in dirty orange overalls and lazily going around doing his job. As he swept a few cigarette butts in his carry bucket, ignoring quite a few others, he spat on the side wall, further staining the already dirty wall with a stochastic coat of red… And at that moment the realization was complete, yes I had arrived, well and truly arrived in India...

So now im in Delhi, and somehow Delhi is not looking like the city I had known... She seems to be dying a slow death caused by rampant corruption; lack of civic sense, love, care and belongingness in its people towards her; a relentless march of immigrants; inept leadership; etc. etc. the list as all of us know, is long.

What I see saddens me, the more I learn about the way this country is being run the more distressed I feel.... Hope we shall in our capacities are able to contribute whatever little we can in building a country that India truly deserves to be...

With no malice towards anyone, just towards our collective inefficiencies...