#6. Republic Day Parade ‘The Rashtriya Mahotsav’.

Republic day in India is celebrated each year with national galore & pride on the 26th of January. The Day is celebrated as the ‘Rashtriya Mahotsav’ to honour the ‘Constitution of India’, which came into force in the year 1950.

This year (2019) was the ‘70th Republic Day’, coinciding with the ‘150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’.

I was fortunate enough to get a VIP invite to the celebration on the Rajpath. To my memory, have watched the parade on T.V each year, from the times of black & white telecast to the colour & now the digital telecasts, glued to the screen till the finish and then run to the terrace to catch a glimpse, in the hazy clouds, of the aircrafts and the balloons.

This year the feeling was much special. Targeted to be seated by 8 A.M, I put the VIP sticker, which came along with the invite, on the front screen of my car. The journey on the roads of Central Delhi was smooth, although there were many security barricades all along. On reaching the allotted parking area, the car was thoroughly screened and let to the parking lot.  Then started the real action.

I must mention the passion of people from all walks of life, making efforts to witness the parade. I saw small kids, sleepy & half awake, being carried by cheerful parents, in huge numbers, queued up to reach the venue.

So after the car is parked, I enquired about the gate relevant to my invite card. The things were quite organised until I reached the entry to my slated gate. Here, was a long wait in the VIP queue for the thorough security frisking. There could have been a separate queue for the foreign dignitaries, who were advanced in our line and because of which, our queue hardly moved. Or, some technology could be used over the invite cards which could ease the security botheration. The invite card, generally were addressed as ‘Mr & Mrs’ together and the ladies & gents were split for security frisking & each requiring to furnish the invite card. I could sense lot of confusion & frustration here waiting amongst helpless attendees.

Once inside the venue, one must hunt for a seating all by himself, as the seating is ‘first come first occupy’ basis, even if you have the VIP invite. So all the theatre seats were occupied, I then managed to grab a seat in back row of flat chair arrangement. These were normal chairs, damp & wet. The public around were impatient and stood on the chairs to catch a glimpse of the programme. The well groomed security personals around, controlled the situation well before the start of the ceremony. While the view of the parade was no better, but the feeling was amass of ‘being there and done that’.  The thump sound of the ‘21 Gun Salute’, can never be described.

Special mention of the ‘Air Show’, so astounding. What a feeling of watching the live fighter planes zooming in various formations and the climax, ‘Sukoi Su-30’ flying at 900 km/hr, splitting the sky with a vertical swirl .

Dispersing from the venue became a challenge as the public were all by themselves with no authorities and organizers to oversee.

This show of ‘India’s galore & might‘ is highly recommended. You bet! One would carry the hangover for days.

Guidelines for attendees of the Republic Day Parade on Rajpath.

• Be at the venue much in advance to get the best viewing seats.
• Delhi winters are chilling so dress adequately.
• Cameras and electronic items like tablets & laptops are NOT ALLOWED
• Food items, including any food stuff, even for children, are NOT ALLOWED.
• Bags (any size) and Ladies Hand bags / Purses / clutches are NOT ALLOWED
• Mobile phones are PERMITTED, while the area has signal jammers, so no calls or internet receptions available. Use your mobile cameras for selfies and photography.
• Physically challenged & elderly people, especially on wheelchair assistance AVOID coming here.
• Ladies with infant kids should AVOID coming, since even milk bottles or water bottles are NOT ALLOWED.
• In case you mistakenly get any of the above NOT PERMITTED stuff to the venue; leave them securely in your car before making the gate entry.
• Get some sandwiches / snacks from home and keep them in your car. This will come handy when the parade culminates and you disperse. The whole program takes more than 3 hours.

Do leave your comments on my Blog when you have witnessed the Republic Day next time.

Jai Hind!