What about me you ask? No different! I watched the parade on tv which itself was a farce with that thick fog and the terror alert across the nation after sunday's Noida capture of some "pakistani" terrorists..
Sunday night I had a reunion with some of the guys of my class 12 and a topic of discussion was the plan of one of my friends to join politics. If you are reading this, then I guess you shall not be surprised by the reactions of everyone else at that table (I initiated the discussion so I refrained till the end): They laughed out loud (lol??) at him and chastised him for the "dumb" decision.. I knew then I saw this scene somewhere before but couldnt place where until yesterday! Anyway I actually took his side because despite all the talk on India being famous at the moment from the movie Slumdog Millionaire which shows the dirty secrets of the Indian slums and most if not all Indians actually having a moment or two of resentment against being typecasted like that, India is and always will be a nation which will be shown on Discovery and History channels because we have that much to offer to the rest of the world.
Yesterday I was going through the tv guide when I saw it: Rang de Basanti- The Aamir Khan starring film which had grabbed the attention of a billion people in the film as well as in real life when it was launched. The scene where the guys criticize India and the politicians brought in me a sense of Deja-vu of the earlier day! If you havent watched that movie yet, get a version with subtitles in case you do not understand Hindi: It is NOT a film for Indians, it is a film for the world as a whole.. And I am more proud of it than I am of Slumdog Millionaire!
So here we are- the festivities of Republic Day being shodden down to a couple of events involving hoisting the Indian Flag and garlanding the statue of Dr Ambedkar.. More interest is garnered by shows involving celebrities or dare-devils performing feats of courage. But dont judge us by this: We may not be as expressive of our freedom as a generation 50 years ago but only because we have gotten used to it and why shouldnt we? When push comes to shove the entire nation stands united! Show me a place elsewhere where 6 billion people bickering a day ago stand hand-in-hand the next because a united calamity has befallen them..
Maybe democracy has lost its sheen but India certainly has not!
1 comment:
Wow! Just saw your blog and I must say I am impressed.. I think I will make a mention of your organisation in a post here soon.
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