I am sitting in my office feeling super kicked about the
fact that it’s a long weekend. It’s a feeling we all share and next year my
father will feel it too as he retires this year and so this one is special!
Ever since my birth I have seen him get ready early in the
morning on 15th August, wear a crisp uniform, try to see if all that
brass shines and that shoe shows his face because of the sparkle. All this to
pull that string at a government school and hoist that tricolor while the kids
wait for a laddoo or a samosa or sometimes both. I too was once part of those kids. We were so
excited to sing and hear these officers/ soldiers talk about India and feel so
proud that we were Indian. More so because that was one day we were made to eat
laddoos and go back home for the rest of the day. What a feeling.
Is that feeling comparable to the feeling when I walked in
today to a small plastic flag that was stuck on my desk? Maybe not. Are we more
“Indian” today. Maybe not. Will I, as a civilian ever feel or make people feel
how it really feels to be an Indian. Maybe not.
15th August 1947. Well that means a lot to me and
my family and a whole lot of my friends who belong to the forces. We are a
family of Air Force and Army brave hearts, who have believed that they were
made to serve the country.
To my family it’s not a day of holiday. It’s a day of
remembering how it is cool to be in the forces. Being part of the forces - Yes it’s
about a lot of parties and endless drinking and yes we love Old Monk and we
enjoy a good Tandoori Chicken and oh yes we have seen our parent party long
before we knew the meaning of party. But we have also seen our mothers pray to
God every time our Fathers went out on a tour or seen that pride in our mom’s
eyes every time our dads put on that uniform. We have heard stories of
independence from our grandmothers and a whole lot of repeated war stories from
my grandfather and I know for sure that my kids will hear more from their
grandfather.
Today when I saw this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs0cfIic0t0&feature=share),
I had to share and put it up on my blog. This Independence Day, I only hope we
fall more and more in love with our country.
So in love that we do not hear a
single complain against it, so in love that no one dares to harm it – not even
the politicians, so in love that we learn to respect our women and men, so in
love that our kids grow up proud of the country that they live in, so in love
that we do not compare ourselves to any other country and feel sad, so in love
that if it’s taken away from us we will be heartbroken and shattered. Because it’s just so easy to love India. Try
it.
