Independence Day celebration

It was a long weekend and I happened to be spending it at my in-laws' house in Lakkidi, Thrissur district. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, this place is about 25 kilometres from Palghat town and is famous as the home of some literary greats of Kerala – including Kunchan Nambiar. This is also famous for the Sri Rama temple at Thiruvilvamala, and more importantly for Aivar madom – a temple where you perform the last rites to propitiate the soul of your deceased family members.

And like the rest of much of Kerala that I have seen, this is a place that is soothing for the eyes with its verdant landscape, traditional "nalukettu" houses, and pretty women!!! And with practically no industry to speak of, Kerala is an idyllic place – one that has an absolutely calming effect on the mind and soul.

And so it was here, that Independence day found me, off on a long walk, enjoying the cool breeze and overcast sky – one that prevented the sun from coming up and making it a hot and humid day! I set off from home, taking the paths less trodden, in an attempt to get familiar with the terrain and allow my legs to meander in synchronization with my mind.

And this sight, this picture that you see stopped me on my tracks. Here, in this sleepy village, on an obscure corner of a road, which no google map will be able to show you, was a small celebration of Indian Independence. There were about fifteen or twenty villagers, mostly kids, with one of the older boys (the almost man) organizing a street-corner event. Very solemnly they stood around, sang the national anthem, hoisted the Indian tricolor and distributed sweets. I stood in proud silence while they sang the national anthem, watching in amazement the very voluntary and uninhibited show of nationalism. There were no chief guests, no one gave any long speeches about the freedom struggle, no politicians trying to gain mileage out of this…just a bunch of kids having fun!

I was reminded of a recent lecture by Ramachandra Guha which I attended – where he talked about why India was one of the most exciting places to live in. He had mentioned five different revolutions that were taking place … all at the same time! And how we were fortunate to be in such a time…a rare occurrence, which no other country had witnessed before. I remember he talked about nationalism and patriotism being two of the revolutions – along with things like the industrial revolution and the green revolution. I guess, I did not quite get what he was talking about at that time. But standing now, watching this event unfold, I just might have begun to make sense of what he meant.

I accepted very gratefully the chocolate and the flag they offered me, very proudly pinned the flag on to my t-shirt, and resumed my walk. Jai Hind!