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Sometimes it is amazing how the human brain works. Just a small
incident will bring back memories by the truck-loads and leave
you all nostalgic and sometimes weepy. And today I just was
looking at my calendar and realised August 15th is almost there.
A few more days before we celebrate the 60th Independence Day of
India. As I paused at the calendar, a load of memories hit me…
quite a filmy scene isn’t it? But unlike the film heroine, I did
not break into a dance, but rather hit a trance and sat back to
savour the memories. The earliest memories of Independence Day
to me are watching the parade in Delhi on the trusted DD-1.
Without fail I’ll pester dad to turn on the TV and sit
mesmerised by marching battalions and my biggest dream was to
watch the parade in Delhi, something which I never got around
doing. I still think someday I need to be in Delhi to watch the
parade. And evening was time for watching the movie ‘Gandhi’ on
TV. I remember sitting on my grandfather’s lap as he broke the
story and it broke my heart when Gandhi was thrown out of the
train.
Then was the time when I went for the flag
hoisting and games organised by our locality youth association
without fail. It was the time to meet friends and just relax.
The whole family will head out for the flag hoisting and fight
for those small pieces of candy that were handed out. And how
can I forget the small tricolor flags handed out to be pinned on
our shirts? Then the fun and games started. It usually was
athletic games for different age groups. Though I was never the
athletic kind, I enjoyed every minute of it. The competitive
spirit, the comradeship and the feeling of being with friends.
We broke up around lunch time to go and meet back when the sun
was down for an evening of music, dance and local talent
display.
During the days in school, Independence Day
let to intensive debates about the past in the social studies
classes. And I was lucky to have teachers who were there to
encourage, point the holes in the reasoning and call a truce
when the arguments got a little out of hand. This probably was
the best thing I ever did in the name of Independence Day. It
meant I spent time reading about the nation’s freedom struggle
in addition to doing my regular homework and class preparations.
I really do not know when the cable TVs took
over my Independence days. It became a ritual to sit in front of
the TV all day and watch actors and actresses talk about their
films and watch the latest hit movie. August 15th become another
day off to just sit and laze in front of the TV. The spirit of
Independence, the struggle, the bloodshed, the lost lives took
backstage as I watched the heroes and heroines jive to the
latest tunes and I guess it was the lowest point in my life. Now
it is rather shaming to admit I did it and yes it is something I
am not proud of.
Today, hundreds of miles and quite a few
massive oceans separate me from my homeland and August 15th is
just another day in my life. I do have to go to work, do my
usual work and life just goes on.
There are melas and fairs and other stuff to
celebrate Indian Independence Day but they are usually during
the weekends and it is more a mela than anything remotely
patriotic. Dancers dressed in saffron, white and green,
strategically placed Indian flags remind you that it is not just
another desi mela in Houston but an Independence Day mela.
But in my own way I pay my respects to the
nation and to its freedom struggle. I make sure I talk to my
colleagues at work about the day. They are mostly Americans who
are quite ignorant about the Indian struggle and, yes, I make
sure I talk like the proud Indian I am. I make sure I turn on a
bunch of patriotic songs at home and it gives me goose bumps!
This Independence Day take time to learn a
little more about the struggle in those days and spread the
word. Pass on what you learn to your friends and anyone who is
ready to listen. And if you are one of the lucky ones who is in
a neighborhood where there is flag-hoisting and celebrations, be
there and spread the patriotism.
I leave you with an extract from Jawaharlal
Nehru’s ‘We made tryst with destiny’ speech, which holds so true
today:
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the
world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment
comes which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from
the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a
nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at
this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to India and
her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.”
- V
http://poohsden.blogspot.com/
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