Beena's Whirlwind Visit

Past friday (14th August) my wife Beena came on a whirlwind visit to Trivandrum for spending a little time with me. We have been taking pains to meet each other at regular intervals. This time around she didnt want to see places because she would be in Trivandrum for only 48 hrs. She just wanted to rest fully. But that was not to be.

Since the next day being Independence day, i thought she should witness unfurling of our national flag by the Chief Minister here and also watch the Parade. On 15th morning we got up early and made it to Central Stadium behind the Secretariat building, well in time. My colleagues were on duty in the same premises to co-ordinate the timing of dropping of flower petals from the air by IAF Helicopter. This was to happen while the National Anthem was sung, after the flag was hoisted.

As we all stood up when the music of our National Anthem was played, we could hear the helicopter coming from afar. Within few seconds the chopper was overhead us with flower petals being dropped from above, which made a good impression on the crowd gathered there. We stayed long enough to see the inspection of Parade formation by the Chief Minister, then the parade by the state police, home guards, NCC, etc.

I should say i had expected some more fanfare, but it was all so quiet in the stadium. Indepence day is celebrated by Indians outside with more energy. A case in point is the Independence day celebrations in Edison, New Jersey, U.S.A. The politicians there make it a point to be the chief guest when invited because of the huge Indian population in that region. There is a saying in Hindi which sums up our casual attitude... "Ghar ki murgi dal barabar".