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!