Salute (5 things - Week 43)

In less than 30 hours, we'll all be waking up to the 64th year of being a Republic Nation. Even though most of us are guilty of exhibiting our patriotism only on such special occasions, I personally believe that it is the evidence of the fact that the present generation can be arsed to make a contribution to the nation, if and when an situation arises.

And on that note, we shall head onto this week's post.

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1. This happened when I was in school, maybe when I was in 10th or so. We were on the way back in our school bus, and for some odd reason, we were playing a game of quiz. Again, for some reason, I happened to ask a 9th standard kid when India got it's independence. Such a simple question you might think, but wait till you hear what he replied - '26th January, 1947'.

We have had comedians mix up numbers and dates to force a joke out of a stale situation, but this kid was serious when he said that. And on that note, I would like us all, myself included to go to wikipedia, search for India, and read these things. I'm not questioning your knowledge of the basics, but I just want us all to reinforce them, so that we may never have to face such an embarrassing situation.

2. This happened two week back. I went to a cinema hall to watch a recently released film. It wasn't houseful or anything - just enough people for it to be called a crowd. Anyways, I was pleasently surprised to see the following video being shown before the screening of the movie.

I recommend that you watch that video at least once. For those of you unwilling to spare the time, that video shows a school assembly 'singing' the National Anthem. The speciality is that the kids are mute, and they use sign language to perform the anthem. To say the least, it moves you.

Back to the theatre, the crowd got up, and respected the national anthem. It was a heart warming experience, which I hoped to be a part of again. And that brings us to the movie I went to see today.

It has been running houseful since it was released, and I had to wait so long to get a ticket. Even though I wasn't disappointed by the movie, I was more than a little put off by the fact that they didn't show the anthem. I hope that they start doing so soon.

3. The one video that my generation grew up watching and singing, from the Mozart of Madras himself.

But I can't stop recommending this video. Watch this, even if you already done so once.

4. An Independence day experience from a fellow blogger - '१५ अगस्त'. It is in Hindi, so please excuse us if you find it hard to read and/or comprehend.

5. Now, this may not be something you find in a normal post about being patriotic about India, but then again I've always maintained a minimum level of absurdity and craziness. And so, I'm going to talk about Pakistan in this post about India. And that too in a positive way.

A news garnered much attention a few weeks back when a boy in Pakistan, stopped a suicide bomber from blowing up his school - even though he had to lay down his life. He knew that if the bomber was allowed to proceed, then the number of casualties would be very high. Since something had to be done quickly, he went to stop him by himself, in spite of the repeated requests of his friends to alert the authorities, and not to risk his life.

I wish that if such a situation ever arose in front of me, I would have the courage like him to do what he did. And I wish that it be the same for each and every one of us.

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So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and gals, go out and celebrate.

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Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.