Independence Day Celebrations

On a dismal Thursday morning with dark clouds looming in the background threatening showers, the Dalhousie Institute unfurled the Tricolour which bears true testimony to the undying spirit of patriotism for every Indian!  The 73rd Independence Day celebration was no less than special as members braved the weather and came out to celebrate a red-letter day in our calendar.

  

Everyone present was colour co-ordinated and stuck to an unwritten colour coded theme of either Saffron, White or Green!  These three colours evoke a certain sense of pride for every Indian irrespective of age, caste or creed.   

At 10:15am everyone assembled on the lawn while our President, Jayajit Biswas assisted by Junior Vice-President, Leslie D’Gama, hoisted the Indian flag. This was followed by the National Anthem. Another moment of pride was in order when the DI flag of white and blue was hoisted alongside the national flag. These special moments will definitely remain etched in our memory in time to come!

In an atmosphere charged with patriotism DI added another memorable moment to it. Fifty Indian Flags, specially ordered, which had Marigold seeds embedded in them were distributed among the children to plant in pots. Rather than plastic which lies on roads and clogs the gutters, these seeds will blossom soon. This was also a part of the Go Green initiative started by the club a few months ago. DI truly hopes that these initiatives help in instilling values in our children which will go a long way in keeping our India clean and green!

The flag hoisting was followed by a short cultural programme which had Raja Mukhopadhyay and Aditi Dutt at the helm of things. Together they had created a script where our freedom struggle was depicted through various songs. It also highlighted the contribution of poets in our freedom struggle.

Rabindranath Tagore’s popular song Aamar desher maati was enacted through dance by Nysa, Nitya, Mishal, Ishanvi, Suhana, Skyla and Ayana.   Dressed in tri colour- orange, white and green the little ones definitely stole the show.

Our soloists, Dipak Dutta sang Sarthak Janam Aamar,  Vijay Singh sang Aye mere watan ke logon and Har kadam karenge aye watan tere liye and  Raju Raman sang Himadri Tung Shring Se.

Our very own little army ‘jawans’ Yugam, Rayed and Jayden marched in to an absolutely wonderful rendition of Kadam kadam badaye ja  sung by the choir. They were joined by Mishal,  Nysa and Nitya dressed in saffron,  white and green!  A truly symbolic moment depicted - our soldiers on either side guarding our flag!

Sulagna Mukhopadhyay made this possible by choreographing the dances for the little ones in the shortest time possible. Kudos to her! All the participants were thanked by President Jayajit Biswas whose message for the day was “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died to protect it.  Happy Independence Day!”

With the proceedings for the morning over it was time for the scrumptious brunch that had everyone hungry by now. Deeya Bati, our vegetarian counter,  cooked up a storm with cholar dal, kashmiri alu dum, karaishuti kachuri and jalebis. All this was washed down by a piping hot ‘kesari chai’!  

Nothing would have been possible without the contribution of the choir – which included Minu, Bishakha, Shubham, Tripti and Ranjini in addition to the soloists mentioned earlier.  Raju Raman, Convenor Cultural events put together the entire programme in an effortless way which is so typical of his style!  Nicola and Minu together ensured the costumes were well coordinated and in sync with the theme of the day.

Thus, came to an end a wonderfully crafted morning and it was heartening to see our members so appreciative of all the efforts put in by each and every one!