“You don’t become what you want. You become what you believe”
I have visited New Delhi only a couple of times and even then, only in transit. If my cousin is to be believed, visiting the inside of an airport does NOT count as visiting the city, which makes me rue living in this country for more than four decades but never visiting the national capital. There are several attractions with which it tries to lure me…from being the erstwhile capital of the Pandavas, to the food, the art and culture and of course the shopping. While in the final throes of MBBS, I was obsessed by the thought of AIIMS, the holy grail of all medical seekers, of which I was swiftly cured by my performance in the required entrance examination. But then I digress.
My real dream of visiting Delhi has always been to see Raj and Raisina. You may be forgiven for thinking that I have never watched the Kajol-Shahrukh Khan romance DDLJ which was a cult hit during my time and mixed up Simran with Raisina. I can assure you that I know my actors and characters well. The Raisina I talk of is Raisina Hill, housing the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Secretariat with the PMO and several other important ministries and thus the beating heart of the republic and Rajpath, the ceremonial boulevard leading up to it incorporating a Vijay in the merry mix in the form of Vijay Chowk.
Though the slow-mo clip of Raj and Simran running towards each other with the mustard fields of the Punjab in full bloom forming an enticing back-drop are the highlight of the popular film, in my book it is not a patch on the sight which has stirred the blood of millions of Indians: the full might of the Indian Armed Forces making their majestic way down Rajpath on Republic Day. Not to be outdone by anything which popular entertainment has to offer, the floats and performers which follow are sure to take your breath away. One may be lulled into the belief that the pomp and the pageantry are nothing but vestiges of a colonial past, but in the eyes of the common citizen like me, they are more. They are milestones on the long road to progress. A yearly stock-taking of how far we have come and how much further we have to go.
Irrespective of the seating arrangements, the chief guest (normally the leader of another nation) and the petty politics of the day, the parade down Raj to Raisina is a symbol of all the things that make me proud to be an Indian. It is a tribute to that unknown martyr who made sure that I go about my day unhindered. Above all, it is a common thread which unites me with my countrymen. Whether it is the lilt of ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Jaa’ or the familiar tune of ‘Sare Jahan se Accha’, it never fails to move me and many others of my generation. For this was the universal ‘mother of all shows’ which we grew up watching.
And this show of strength on becoming a republic carries great significance. It means the final casting away of the shackles of the British Raj, of choosing to govern ourselves the way WE want to be governed. It symbolizes the flight of confidence that we are India, a separate entity, a power in our own right. And hence the grandeur of the yearly spectacle, a reminder of who we are and who we are meant to be.
Things may have changed now. I hardly ever have the time to sit glued to the television for two hours straight as I used to do back in school and I hardly ever see the offspring (who is still in school) doing so either. It is perhaps a characteristic of this instant generation who would rather watch the parade in short reels on Instagram instead of going the whole hog. I like to think that they are stirred too. That just for some time, the individuality which is the hallmark of modern living takes a backseat for commonality as a country. That all of us respect the idea of a nation, personal, political, social and economic preferences notwithstanding.
Many things have changed over the years. Politics has become murkier than ever, more divisive as some like to say. In fact, if it were up to some, they would have us believe that everything our constitution stands for is in danger, that being a nationalist who puts the nation ahead of personal liberty is an epithet to be ashamed of. Wanting cohesion under a common banner and a common law and wanting to BE a common citizen is the depths of depravity in a society which is gradually fragmenting away into individualism, which wants to respect the individual choice, guaranteed under the rights granted to the Indian citizen, as we are constantly reminded.
How many of us have truly considered the reverse of this coin? That if we have rights, they are guaranteed on the presumption that we will carry out the duties attached? Call me old-fashioned in a world obsessed with jettisoning collective constraint in favor of individual liberty, but I would rather be happy in the belief that the nation is an example of a whole being larger than the sum of its individual parts. And thus, hitches and glitches apart, the need of the day remains cohesion. It is something which should be ingrained in us, rather than having to be enforced, for the progress of the collective also means that of the individual.
And thus, the symbols. Whether the fluttering flag or the marching contingents, the cavalcade, the salutes and the speeches. And almost a week of celebration drawing to a close with beating the retreat. To arouse a ‘we’ rather than ‘me’ feeling, to ‘wake’ us up rather make us ‘woke’. While individual liberty and equality definitely have their role in the betterment of society, it is time to realize that ‘First among Equals’ should remain the title of a popular novel and NOT become a populist theory. All should have an equal claim on resources, there IS no ‘first claim on resources’ for that will undermine the whole concept of equality. A long hard look at the ORIGINAL preamble of our constitution is very much needed, to remind us of the hopes and dreams of the founders of our nation.
Raj and Simran, in the film had their share of woes in the form of the larger -than-life, terror inspiring, controllaman, ‘Bauji’. For Raj and Raisina, the boogey men are many. They wield brooms and sickles, brandish saplings and lotuses, ride on elephants and bicycles, set off alarm clocks and shake hands(needlessly) and team up with bows and arrows and kites. Raj and Simran having achieved cult status Bauji notwithstanding, it is left to us, the citizens, to award the same to Raj and Raisina by making their inhabitants accountable, so that Netaji from his vantage point, from where Raj’s journey begins can see his dream gradually coming true….