Mera Bharat Jawaan

Come 15^th August and suddenly the entire nation is dressed in saffrons, whites, blues and greens ... One can spot the tirangaa hoisted ubiquitously.... sketches & photographs of our great freedom fighters & martyrs getting flashed incessantly... all the tv and radio channels become extremely patriotic... tricolor balloons, shirts, caps and what not for sale at every nook and corner .... every celebrity proudly boasting about what independence means to them .... and I must confess my own music play list also gets revamped to mostly patriotic songs (A R Rahman’s Vande Mataram leading the pack) ... [That’s a sad thing that one has to wait for about 5 months till 26^th Jan to see these feelings again :( well, lets not go there today]

Its celebration time in most of the organizations as well... mine was no exception; on the eve of Independence Day we had organized a cubicle decoration event and ethnic wear day. One thing I have noticed in the past few years; there is simply no limit to innovation and creative ideas... every time there is any such event; the ingenuity of people just oozes out which can be seen in the atypical decorative themes they come up with ... sometimes the final output even surprises the creators themselves.

I am not going to put up pics (sorry, I don’t have them as yet :() and describe the different themes. But one theme and presentation by a small group got our particular attention ... they didn’t have any flashy or abundant decorations/paintings etc ... but they presented their theme perfectly ... Their theme was not much detailed; just a teasing idea which got me pondering ...

Their theme was basically “Mera Bharat Jawan” ... they wanted to state that Independent India is not 61 years old ... but its 61 years young. Always during independence/republic day we get reminiscent of our great freedom fighters... Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Nehru and the likes ... No doubt we should pay due homage to these legends; as they deserve every bit of it ... but now even after 61 years past our independence; we do not look forward ... we have many heroes (in their own way) in current era who are carrying forward the legacy of these great legends (viz. Abdul Kalam, Narayan Murthy, Mother Teressa, Lee/Hesh, Abhinav Bindra, Jhumpa Lahiri, Dr Homi Bhabha and several others.) These are the ones who symbolize current independent India and make it shine bright on the globe.

Sadly, despite being independent, our nation is still bounded by a strong chain of weedy bureaucracy, corruption, violence, poverty, terror attacks and several other disruptive links. It is these contemporary heroes from different parts of the nation who in their own ways are trying to cut this chain and make India break free from this captivity. The early inroads have been made through by these stars ... now its upto the youth and educated generation to help in their own ways to cut loose this chain completely and be a HERO in the history of our nation.

Reminds me of a nice punch line that I read yesterday - India Lies in YOU... googled it and found it to be an event organized by a group of students ... click the pic for more details

Earnest wishes on 61^st birthday of free India...

Vande Mataram !!!

~ hiren

P.S. A heartfelt salute and homage to the army martyrs who sacrificed their lives/families (and also those who risk their lives day in and out) for the peace & prosperity of the nation...

“That we do for ourselves we take to our graves ...
That we do for others lives in this world for eternity ...”

P.P.S. My team won the joint 2^nd prize with the above stated team. And also the best dressed female in ethnic wear was from my team...