Republic Day Recap

Courtesy Taj Online  http://festivals.tajonline.com/republic-day.php

    26th January 1950 is one of the most important days in Indian history as it was on this day the constitution of India came into force and India became a truly sovereign state. In this day India became a totally republican unit. The country finally realized the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and the numerous freedom fighters who, fought for and sacrificed their lives for the Independence of their country. So, the 26th of January was decreed a national holiday and has been recognized and celebrated as the Republic Day of India, ever since.

    Today, the Republic Day is celebrated with much enthusiasm all over the country and especially in the capital, New Delhi where the celebrations start with the Presidential to the nation. The beginning of the occasion is always a solemn reminder of the sacrifice of the martyrs who died for the country in the freedom movement and the succeeding wars for the defense of sovereignty of their country. Then, the President comes forward to award the medals of bravery to the people from the armed forces for their exceptional courage in the field and also the civilians, who have distinguished themselves by their different acts of valour in different situations.

   To mark the importance of this occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, from the Rajghat, along the Vijaypath. The different regiments of the army, the Navy and the Air force march past in all their finery and official decorations even the horses of the cavalry are attractively caparisoned to suit the occasion. The crème of N.C.C cadets, selected from all over the country consider it an honour to participate in this event, as do the school children from various schools in the capital. They spend many days preparing for the event and no expense is spared to see that every detail is taken care of, from their practice for the drills, the essential props and their uniforms.

    The parade is followed by a pageant of spectacular displays from the different states of the country. These moving exhibits depict scenes of activities of people in those states and the music and songs of that particular state accompany each display. Each display brings out the diversity and richness of the culture of India and the whole show lends a festive air to the occasion. The parade and the ensuing pageantry is telecast by the National Television and is watched by millions of viewers in every corner of the country.

   The patriotic fervor of the people on this day brings the whole country together even in her essential diversity. Every part of the country is represented in occasion, which makes the Republic Day the most popular of all the national holidays of India.

Courtesy wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day_(India)

The Republic Day of India marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India and the transition of India from a British Dominion to a republic on January 26, 1950.

Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, it did not yet have a permanent constitution; instead, its laws were based on the modified colonialGovernment of India Act 1935, and the country was a Dominion, with George VI as head of state and Earl Mountbatten as Governor General. On August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution, with Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as chairman.

A draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947. The Assembly met, in sessions open to public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on January 24, 1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands. The Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950, 10.18 AM IST. Following elections on January 21, 1950,Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president of India. The Indian National Congress and other parties had been celebrating January 26th as a symbol of Independence, even before India actually became independent. Thus, signing the constitution on January 26, to mark and respect January 26 and the freedom struggle and the freedom fighters.

Granville Austin has described the Indian Constitution drafted by Ambedkar as 'first and foremost a social document.' ... 'The majority of India's constitutional provisions are either directly arrived at furthering the aim of social revolution or attempt to foster this revolution by establishing conditions necessary for its achievement.'

The amending mechanism was lauded even at the time of introduction by Ambedkar in the following words: "We can therefore safely say that the Indian federation will not suffer from the faults of rigidity or legalism. Its distinguished feature is that it is a flexible federation.

"The three mechanisms of the system derived by the Assembly, contrary to the predictions, have made the constitution flexible at the same time protected the rights of the states. They have worked better than the amending process in any other country where Federalism and the British Parliamentary system jointly formed the basis of the constitution"

What Sir Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister of Britain (April 1955 to January 1957), said at the time of the emergence of Indian Republic is relevant in this context. He said, ‘Of all the experiments in government, which have been attempted since the beginning of time, I believe that the Indian venture into parliamentary government is the most exciting. A vast subcontinent is attempting to apply to its tens and thousands of millions a system of free democracy... It is a brave thing to try to do so. The Indian venture is not a pale imitation of our practice at home, but a magnified and multiplied reproduction on a scale we have never dreamt of. If it succeeds, its influence on Asia is incalculable for good. Whatever the outcome we must honour those who attempt it. Even more meaningful was the opinion expressed by an American Constitutional authority, Granville Austin, who wrote that what the Indian Constituent Assembly began was ‘perhaps the greatest political venture since that originated in Philadelphia in 1787.’

"During recent years, it has become fashionable among some citizens to disparage the founders and their document. These individuals disappointed by the developments in the country since 1950, have called for changing the constitution explaining that it has not 'worked'. Such thinking, in my view, is misguided. Constitutions do not 'work', they are inert, dependent upon being 'worked' by citizens and elected and appointed leaders"

It is one of the three national holidays in India

My Republic Day

My brother and I would wake up sleepy-eyed at 6AM on a holiday, sleep-walk to the bathroom and dress up in white or green or saffron (so yeah, white) to attend the flag-hoisting at the playground in our colony. It's been a regular event ever since I can remember... school days, work-days (I lived elsewhere during my college days) until we moved out of the colony last year.

While most people don't seem to exactly 'celebrate' Republic Day, it's good to see that there are a few colonies that still do it. A colleague of mine mentioned celebrations that included little kids getting cute little Indian flags, a parade by the 25 watchmen in their huge apartment complex, etc. The one I'm talking about is nothing compared to that. We hoist the flag at 7.15AM sharp (the president of the resident's welfare associate does), one of the ladies distributes sweets. There's breakfast, sports/games for kids and parents, lunch, cultural programs in the evening and finally dinner. It's fun to live in colonies with lots of houses but not so many that it becomes a little city of it's own. I miss that. But then, I miss the grounds and the clean locality too. I digress again!

Back to Republic Day celebrations. I drove mum & dad to the colony (as ex-president, dad was a 'special guest'). What was different this year? The ladies decided that they wanted to take the centre stage, so when the flag hoisting was about to start, there was a group of ladies totally amused to watch the confused men wondering where to stand, for their place was taken. One of the women proudly announced that we'd pushed the men aside and taken the lead. The litle joys of life. Guess this was her moment. The president arrived, in a suit (whoa!) at 7.30AM (big crime, we always do 7.15AM on the dot)... the women-folk were getting restless and unhappy at the lack of punctuality. As most people that come under the category of 'big people' in government offices go, the president merely unfurled the flag but didn't exactly put in an effort to get it in a position that it would wave in the wind. One of the other men had to do it after him. Duh!

Usually, we would start off with the National Anthem. Our lady, Mrs. Akhila, started singing Vande Mataram, so the rest of us had to follow suit. She wanted to end the National Song with 'Vande Mataram' chanted thrice. Okay lady, you got it. That was followed by the National Anthem. Thank God for these Republic & Independence day celebrationss, I can still get both these right, unlike a lot of Indians I know *wink* *wink*

The president yelled "Bharat Mata Ki" and the chorus ended it with a "Jai". Then "Vande Mataram" chanted a couple of times and now the audience wanted him to 'say a few words'. If I were in his place, I'd go blank. Imagine being unprepared, an audience wanting you to speak on the occasion of Republic Day, at 7.30 in the morning! I was desperately trying to remember which anniversary it was. 61st. The man just took off and spoke for over 5 minutes. Republic Day, love for the country, greateness of people... oh dear, how do they do that? That's one thing about these KEB guys, I've noticed... they can talk. Anyplace, anytime, anything about. No English, all Kannada. Brilliant. I mean, the speech was okay but the impromptu was good, the language was good.

Breakfast from Shrinidhi Sagar, as always. Idly-Vada with sambar and coconut chutney, Kesaribath and tea. No coffee. Sigh! I am a coffee person. Enjoyed breakfast. Wished I could have another vada but I was really full. While mum & dad caught up with old friends from the colony, I decided to sit in the car and read for a while. I ended up watching a few kids play. It looked like fun. A new game. Never played that before. One boy from the group throws a ball up in the air and the guy who is "out" runs to where it drops off. The other guys run as far away from the ball as they can but have to turn into statues the moment the 'out' guy finds the ball and yells "STOP!". Then he picks one guy from the group (I'm guessing the guy closest to him), who remains a statue and the rest of the group crowds around the guy who was picked. The 'out' guy throws the ball in the direction of the group and whoever the ball hits is now "OUT". The ex-out guy throws the ball up in the air, the new 'out' guy runs after it and the rest run away from it... and it continues in a never-ending game.

Nothing like the lagori of our days but well, kids these days are lot delicate, I guess. As long as they didn't break the glass of my car, I was happy. After a few minutes of watching some of the kids crowding around my car and the 'out' guy trying to fling the ball at them, I decided that the stress wasn't worth it and dragged my parents back home. I just had to get my car out of there. I had work to get done, at home.

It's afternoon now, I'd better go wish dad while it's still his birthday. It always seems to get buried in the bigger celebrations of the bigger events of Republic Day. Poor dad. The husband's got a chocolate cake, which might have been cut and eaten at midnight if dad hadn't slept by then, if bro did not have to run a marathon this morning and the husband himself didn't have a long ride planned. Cake still waits. Yummm, the thought of chocolate cake in the refrigerator is making me hungry...