Republic Day - Facts/Opinion

1. When...?

• The Republic Day marks the day when the Constitution of India came into force. But    it was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949.
  

2. Then, why Jan 26...?

•   January 26 was being chosen as the Republic Day to commemorate the ‘Purna Swaraj' (complete Independence) declaration taken on that date by the Indian National Congress  at Lahore in 1930.
  
  

3. Parade Route ...

• One of the highlights of the Republic Day is the grand parade in New Delhi.  The traditional parade route is from Raisina Hill to the Red Fort along the Rajpath and past India Gate.
  

4. Memorial...

• Prior to the parade, the Prime Minister lays a wreath at the memorial , ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti' below the India Gate, in sombre remembrance for all those soldiers who were martyred.
  
  

 5. Guns...

•   When the President unfurls the National Flag, 21 guns boom out in salute.
  

 6. Salute...

•  The gallantry award winners Victoria Cross, Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra lead the parade with the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces taking salute.
  

7. Children...

•  One of the most cheered sections of the parade is when some chosen children astride elephants pass the dais. These children are National Bravery Award winners.
  

8. Conclusion...

• An impressive fly-past by IAF aircraft concludes the parade in New Delhi on January 26.
  

9. 3 Days Festival...

•  The Republic Day celebration is a three day extravaganza
  

10. PM Rally...

•  On January 27, selected NCC cadets who display various breath-taking performances and drill hold the Prime Minister's rally
  

11. Last Day...

• 'Beating the Retreat' ceremony at Vijay Chowk on January 29 that officially denotes the end of Republic Day festivities.
  

12. Hymn...

•  ‘Abide With Me', the hymn, written by Henry Francis Lyte and said to be Mahatma Gandhi's favourite, played at the above ceremony.
  
  

13. The End

• The Republic Day celebration come to a formal end on January 29 at 6 p.m., buglers sound the retreat, the National Flag is lowered and the National Anthem is sung.
  

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Anyway, I opine that....

The 60th anniversary of India becoming a republic has come and gone. Fireworks, salutes to the tiranga, distribution of awards, parades, display of our military might and what not. But the real issue amid the festivities seems to have been lost somewhere. We boast that we have been a democracy for six decades — and point out that the same is not true of our neighbours — but are we truly democratic? Have we lived up to the ideals cherished in the Constitution?

Our foreign policy changes according to the dictates of Washington; education has been commercialised; there is too much privatisation; there has been a decline in vital subsidies; we have blatantly failed to instil confidence among the minorities and are yet to fulfil the people’s regional aspirations. We can, at best, celebrate Republic Day as yet another festival.

* * * Democracy has helped only our politicians. Many of them got an opportunity to become billionaires after a decade or so in politics. Our criminal justice system is all but ineffective in curbing corruption, which starts with the ballot box and ends in Swiss banks.
Politicians have mastered the technique of purchasing the illiterate masses on the eve of elections and use state funds to market their party to the same masses by offering freebies. Those who can change the system refrain from voting due to frustration and, in some cases, fear. Our democracy is the best bet for Swiss banks.
* * * The annual Republic Day parade is an occasion to showcase the country’s achievements in the military, cultural and economic fields. But it is also true that enormous resources in terms of money and manpower are spent in organising the occasion. This is particularly true in the current security scenario when such functions have to be organised under the shadow of possible terrorist attacks. In view of this, we should seriously consider having such huge celebrations at intervals of three-four years.

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PS: I will add all the suggested additional facts , if any, from the readers. Thank You.

Square Bubble

You live in a bubble of your own. You love your bubble's eccentricity and transparency. You feel elated and inspired by the way your bubble of passion keeps floating in the air, though it is to be short lived. You are an off roader while others are on the highway. You are a voice that is unapologetic in acknowledging its roots, out of which it has grown and evolved gradually. In the era of plenty , you don't want to overdo things just to accentuate the effect. Your emphasis is on the significance of process rather than solution. You believe in going further and exploring new avenues. You hold a mirror that reflects the realities you had witnessed till now . And when the mirror broke , the realities multiplied. Even when you ask a question it comes across like a statement. Experiencing life in a different contexts provides you with a deeper understanding of life. It saves you from a narrow world view. You know that challenges are often the best tools for empowerment. The deeper the plunge, greater the challenge.

Dreaming under the stars of fiction, you allowed yourself to drift along the stream of consciousness. Many a sign board to the left and the right on the way tried and failed to lure you. It was tough for you when the wheel of time brought you back to where you started off. Its been a long journey from your desire to undesired destination. Soon you realized that Life's most valuable lessons are often tucked away in the basic pleasures and pursuits. You need to appreciate the simple things in life. You toiled like machine, chasing distant dreams, with no time to stop and stare. To make life meaningful, you must laud your efforts and accomplishments, before moving onto your next destination in life. You want to pause and give yourself a pat on the back for what you have achieved till now, before you discover the next big thing. Your juncture with books started with baby steps as books make you to understand experiences and experiences make you to understand books. It is not just a question of experience but also perspective and perception . Now, you are opinionated but not judgmental. You are habituated to move on like your bubble. You are on the right tracks now , don't stay there, keep moving, else, you will perish forever because of the fact , "One will be paid not to try but to succeed". You may still want to be in the same bubble, but dear, you need to adapt to a different bubble. May be an opaque and "Square Bubble ".

Do U want to name this topic??? - (Blog-a-ton 6)

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 6; the sixth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

The present topic I am going to write here is of very adjective less and tag less type of presentation of my thoughts as I will not write this in a planned and scripted way and rather I will try to put it in a natural and instinctual way. I want to taste the amazing experience of writing whatever my mind senses but without filtering and controlling my thoughts.  Lets see where I will land upon. Whether I am going to conclude something or does it end without a tail. Is it really worthy topic on my blog? Am I keeping a tab that someone is going to read this? I just want to write something without prejudice and bias. If you are busy with your work , you can stop reading this here as it is almost fruitless. But if you are curious and excited, like me, to know what I am going to end with, you can continue. Initially i have planned to write on the concept of 'Simplicity', but as I opened my PC, I just got this naive and spontaneous idea of instinctual and natural way of writing. You may call it purposeless, aimless, meaningless, direction-less attempt. You may not call it so because you might not have stopped in between reading this topic. Even I am not going to bother about the literal standards while writing. I just want to travel along with this natural flow of writing which is as similar as a river's curvy journey. May be i have planned this so called 'unplanned writing', who knows? May be i am going to manipulate the thoughts of readers too in the name of natural flow, who knows? Going for this amusing and strange attempt, while listening to Rahman's latest album is really a bracing flavour till now.

Whenever you sing in bathrooms,whenever you rotate something on your fingers, whenever you play with children, whenever you drench in rain, whenever you gossip, whenever you call our friends, whenever you go to a temple, whenever you dance in isolation, whenever you hit our friends, whenever you play with a ball, whenever you hug your teddy, whenever you whistle a tune, whenever you try to grab those tender raindrops, whenever you hum a melody, whenever you soak in a gorgeous sunrise or sunset ............... you don't do all these things with a planned strategy every-time, sometimes they just happen instantaneously and are instinctual . Only i know the exact rational behind this effort.The reason may be that i don't want to get stereotyped or I don't want to follow established standards and procedures or I prefer natural instincts or I want to fill my boredom in life or I am trying to experiment or I love to be myself most of the times or I want my blog to represent myself more than the ideologies or i want to skip from the flock of proverbial sheep or i am lacking topics to write on or am i just kidding?? It all depends on your perception and opinion about me and the post.

This topic is not for publication or feedback, its just for my writing spree, to feel myself, to live at this moment in my own way. Neither the expectations nor the responsibilities, neither the isms nor the standards, neither the compliments nor the comments, neither the yesterday nor the tomorrow, should manipulate my thought process. Its neither about breaking some existing rules nor creating a new way of writing. Its simply to be original, though not creative. It is to be more of Me. It is to be like a small child who plays aimlessly and and yet gets the maximum satisfaction of living at that moment, who smiles for himself, who don't keep in mind that he is learning day by day, who depends on meaningless sounds and cries to express his momentary feelings and emotions, who hardly bothers about his surroundings , his parents, his past, his name, his nakedness, his looks, his capability, his stature, his colour, his ego while communicating with his toy friends.

Right now we are swimming hardly, in the malady of rat race, in the ocean of Consumerism, which is filled with hard core sharks of Planning, Career, Time management, Dedication, Morality, Commitment, Aims, Resolutions, Deadlines, Appraisals, Brands, Style statements, Weekends, Show offs, Gadgets, Social-websites parameters, and more, in order to keep afloat the ship of "Corporate" , at the cost of our Health, Emotions, Relationships, Passions and of course Life. When was the last time you lived a moment to its maximum and for yourself? When was the last time you felt that you were free from the shackles of past and future? When was the last time your mood was filled with joy irrespective of whether it is a weekend or a weekday? When was the last time you didn't act to satisfy the societal obligations? When was the last time you unmasked yourself from the clutches of formalities? When was the last time you embraced the colours of life?  Wow, its pleasantly surprising that such a purposeless writing has turned into some lively brainstorming(am not sure though it appears sort of...). I know you are still thinking whether this is a planned or unplanned writing. But only i know the fact that it has served my purpose of writing because i lived these 20 mins to the fullest possible with Rahman's soothing music. Its been proved yet one more time that happiness is within us. By the way,  when was the last time you lived a moment, absolutely in your own way ???


PS: This post is a Green Post :) :) :)
Is Your Blog Green??

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

GREEN DEEDS

Happy New Year, 2010.

Hope, you had all the new year's flavours, aromas, wishes, entertainment, cultural activities, refreshment, fun and frolic etc. New Calendars? BTW, How did the parties and celebrations went off? Colourful/Exciting/Blast/Rockin? Were they Green too? 

Yeah, i mean it. How much we have been contributing to the ever incrementing global warming by these celebrations on various occasions, year long? We all of us know very well that, not only celebrations, every human deed results in the gradual extinction of many species, daily. Wait, I am not asking every one to become a saint and stop partying/celebrating. If we are responsible to the mounting Global Warming phenomenon, knowingly or unknowingly, by the usage of non-biodegradable things and burning fossil fuels through our daily activities , then isn't it our responsibility to compensate for the inevitable damage we are causing to the Environment in which WE live.

Any new resolutions in New Year?

How about having one more?

Shall we try "Green Deeds" ?

Yes. Green Deeds. You might have got the gist of this topic by now.

I strongly feel that the obvious failure of Copenhagen summit(Climate Change) necessitates to retrospect our role and responsibilities before passing the buck to other entities. I would like to propose an idea to deal with the number of carbon foot prints we are leaving behind whenever we succumb ourselves to consumerism .

As every  activity, from partying to blogging, results in a certain amount of  plastic waste or consuming any fuel/energy/power that causes global warming, we can make the activity as GREEN by planting a sapling to minimise the damage/impact, if not finding a solution. It is quite simple. You can choose, like, for how many activities/deeds you will plant a sapling. It can be one sapling per one activity or one sapling per 4 activities, depending on one's convenience. The choice is yours.  It is highly flexible .  We have to start somewhere, right?

Think once....

 

1. How about adding a plant along with the gift on any/every occasion?

2. How about planting a sapling/saplings as a memory to our recent trip?

3. How about having at least one Green weekend per month?

4. How about having 11 plantations whenever India wins a series or your favourite player performs?

5. How about saying a Green Sorry?

6. How about having a plant on every success in our life?

7. How about Green Festivals/Green Cinemas/Green Works/Green Jobs?

8. How about converting all get-togethers/Meetings/Parties/Trips/Journeys/Weekends/Holidays etc into "Green Visits"?

9. How about "Green Shopping" (one plant per 1000/10000  etc )? What say?

10. We may have Green Friends/Relationships too....

11.Finally, how about Green Blogs/posts. One plant per one post/5 posts/one Blogaton etc??

Similarly,

Green Studies...... 1 plant per one semester/academic year

Green Careers.....1 plant per appointment/bonus/onsite/promotion etc

Green Bike.....1 plant per 100/500/1000 km etc

Green Aims...... 1 plant for one Aim/Goal/Dream

Green Waste...... 1 plant per 1month/100 days/1 year etc

Green Books...... 1 plant per 1 book/10 books

Green LOVE....... You know it.

Green Homes.......Is your balcony empty? 

Green Gadgets.....1 plant per PC/Laptop/mobile, per year

Green Music.......1 plant per 100/200 albums etc

I hope the questions, like, Is your Job Green? Is your life Greener? Is this Green Party? Do you have Green Memories? Is your PC green Is your blog Green/Are you a Green Blogger?  ....etc will become part of our lives soon.

So Friends, what do you say? Will you join me and spread this flavour of "Greenism" ?

I am leaving few ideas for you. I would like to have suggestions from you, which i will add in this post, eventually, to make it more comprehensive and pragmatic.

 Any Green Thoughts ?

Lets, WE, together make this new year a......

Happy GREEN New Year :) 

PS: This post is a Green Post :) :) :)