I have been searching for a good day to revive my blog since my last post. And what better day to start again! The Indian Independence Day was yesterday and I am still high after our Independence Day celebrations.
While, on one hand, its just a reason for me to finally write a post, it is one of those days when I miss being in India, in that typical independence day type of environment. Early morning flag hoisting, uniforms, national anthem, inspiring speeches, patriotic songs, reciting the pledge, all of that. The day seems tri colored everywhere and the national holiday gives a pause to the routine life of common people. All of us know, especially after starting to work, that it gives us a much needed break from our mundane tasks, being a national holiday in India. At the same time, I am sure that a bunch of thoughtful people grab this opportunity to pause and think. Whether it is a genuine celebration or just blaring patriotic songs on loudspeakers, we try to reminisce upon our freedom struggle. We read about the achievements of our country till now, our shortcomings and how we can improve beyond this point. The newspapers, television, and of late, the social media are all busy reminding us all of the above.
On that note, I attended the Independence Day ceremony organized by two Indian organizations at Purdue, Indian Graduate Students at Purdue (IGRASP) and Indian Classical Music Association at Purdue (ICMAP). A big thank you to them for organizing the celebrations of Independence Day and Republic Day, successfully, for so many years. I hope they continue to rekindle this patriotic spirit every year among us who are away from India. And like the Chief Guest of our ceremony, Professor Garimella said, “no matter how much we curse the state of our country every single day, this is one day when we all come together, appreciate our unity in diversity, ignore all the shortcomings for a day, enjoy the spirit of India and get passionate about our future”.
Sayali Kale 