My Republic Day Parade Wish list

I was commenting on Anil's latest post - Musings. I could not resist myself to talk a bit here in my space as well. Oh! how silly we are; we search for a reason to rant; we do that even if we do not get a reason to.

Folks, Belated Republic Day wishes. Pardon me for wishing you late; but was held up a bit at work. Yeah, here is one more RANDOM post about our Republic Day...(I hear few Sighs and Yawns)

I have been watching the republic day parade on Doordarshan since a child. Remember the Doordarshan? Our national channel? Yeah, the grand parade thats held every year in our Capital. The long, organized, predictable parade; which I have been watching with a sense of immense pride and patriotism for my country. I love the display, the march pasts of the defense regiments, the tableau, the folk dances.......Its so rich, diverse, colorful just like our country. Its long, coordinated, sometimes erroneous, a bit chaotic but you know what to expect just like our big fat wedding.

But our big fat wedding nowadays comes with a twist; people wanting to experiment; like getting married in a hot air balloon or having a DJ playing Rap music for the 'Sangeet'. Similarly I would wish to see some twists to our Republic Day parade. Here is my wish list.

We are pretty sure impressed with those sleek missiles and polished battle tanks which are kept in a very neat condition; never used and never fired. We are a peace loving nation dearies. Why not? But I would wish to see a demo of those tanks; but fire at whom? No not at anyone; but at the skies so that the roar and noise can wake up those dignitaries and politicians who are yawning, napping, gossiping, day dreaming, picking and seeming so disinterested.

I would wish to see the tableau of J&K depicting stone throwers, the tableau of Karnataka depicting illegal mining, the tableau of Arunachal Pradesh as a tourist place to visit with "visa" on arrival. I would wish to see a tableau of AP depicting their people boarding a flight to San Francisco and a tableau of greener Punjab where the cell phone providers earn their moolah from ISD calls.

I would wish if they depicted real India. A float showing rain woes in Mumbai or a traffic woe in Bangalore. I would appreciate a float showing rotting onions in APMC yards or a float overtaking other floats on the wrong side and zooming to make up for late arrival due to its previous night at a rave party or a float where every lakes are encroached and apartments showing up as "Lakeview apartments"

It would be nice if our tigers were bestowed with the National Bravery Award and are paraded to celebrate their bravery and survival instincts even with so much danger.

Talking about the motorcycle parade, I would wish to see them without helmets, without license driving on the wrong side. I would wish to see a better daredevil stunts on the motorcycle that can match closer to acrobatic skills of zooming 2 wheelers doing a wheelie on our expressways.

I love the performances of traditional folk dances by school students and their march pasts. But it would be interesting to see these kids' social networking skills, to hear their 'accented' English and their SMS lingo.

I would wish to see our 'real' treasures - the beggars, the homeless, the child laborers, the sick and the needy being paraded than the bejeweled horses. I love the fact that we have a chief guest each year to witness the parade. It must be once in a lifetime experience for them to witness the world's most impressive parade. So it is for me :-)