To start with, I got up at 10 a.m. today. Sounds wierd?? May be it would 'coz it was not "Just another Sunday"... Was supposed to attend the Independence Day celebrations at college at 7 a.m., which I didn't...
I didn't understand the significance of Independence Day till I started going to school. I remember there was a time when I used to get up early in the morning and rush to school, just to see the Flag being hoisted by Princi (short for our Principal Sirji)... The Scouts & the NCC Saluting it... Singing of the National Anthem... and some more patriotic songs, like Vande Mataram... Listening to a variety of patriotic speeches in either English or Hindi (or rather waiting for it to get over)... The drills and the march-past... The cultural activities where one can see a sudden burst of Saffron, White and Green, the Indian Tri-color... The distribution of sweets and snacks... Then rushing back home and catching on the last few minutes of the National celebration on DD1, though it was nothing compared to what we got to see on Republic Day...
Even if it was for those "Mithai ka Dabbas", the point is that we attended the celebrations... Once college started, it was up to us whether to attend or not, and the choice was pretty clear! This brings up few questions in my mind...
Does that mean Independence Day doesn't mean anything to us anymore just 'coz times have changed?
Has Independence Day degenerated into just another holiday?
Do we really understand the relevance of Independence Day today?
Is it just because we have not experienced life pre-independence, that we can't really understand the true value of it?
Or has there been a reduction in our cultural and ethical values?
I thought of writing this post 'coz someone said to me - "Pity that it's a Sunday and we did not even get a day off!!"
I would rather say pity that the 'holiday' part of this Day is what seems to be most important to most of us...
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