As January comes, Delhi gets into the Republic Day mood. The city knows it will be watching another parade at India Gate soon. Rajpath already has loudspeakers blaring patriotic songs every morning. One can enjoy them while taking a short walk around the area, or while sitting at nearby bus stops.
It’s an annual ritual to test the public address system for the 26 January ceremony.
Despite all the gloom spread by overcast skies, men in uniform have begun rehearsing their march-past. Stands are being erected on both sides of the Rajpath for spectators, though their number will be much smaller this year.
A special dais with a glass-shield cabin is being raised for the President to take the salute.
The parade has been curtailed this year because of Covid. But this can’t curtail the excitement that the parade brings to the national capital.
The city behaves like a child, who insists on watching the spectacle of defence forces marching to bands, and tableaux showing glimpses of life and colours from different States. There are indications that this year the parade will run from the Vijay Chowk to the National Stadium, instead of terminating at the Red Fort. Delhi’ites have seen the parade umpteen times, but it is never enough for them. There are stories of people coming on bullock carts from neighbouring states to watch the parade in its initial years.
The villagers would leave the countryside at night to be on the parade route well in time. The city residents too would leave their homes early and take DTC buses to get dropped at the closest points. It was like a picnic for many as they brought food and fruits to enjoy during and after the parade.
The excitement abated a little after live coverage of the parade started on television.
The Covid pandemic may have cast a shadow over the show this year, but it cannot suppress the pride people attach to watching the parade.
For those watching the parade the first time, it leaves memories of a lifetime.
An unavoidable irritant connected with the event is growing security cover.
Already Rajpath is cordoned off for pre-parade preparations. Domestic tourists or locals wanting to have a close look at the India Gate need to take a long detour from the nearest Metro station.
This year’s January has been unusually cold and wet. People waited for the middle of the month for the Lohri night bonfires. This year too, all across the city, people collected wood for the fires to keep warm, and to drive away their depression. The past year had given them little else other than gloomy Covid news.
There was speculation that the pandemic could get worse during the winter. Fortunately, it eased in the capital, although the flow of news from different parts of the world showed the lurking danger. Covid has turned the world even smaller. As festivals come and go, the continuing farmers’ protest on Delhi’s borders sits heavy on people’s minds.
They keep wondering how the whole issue would be resolved. The farmers consider the Centre’s new agri laws an attack on their freedom to do farming the way they like it, with a potential of destroying their livelihood eventually. Nothing less than the abrogation of the laws is acceptable to them.
The Supreme Court has for the time being stayed the implementation of the laws. The farmers continue their dharna and have planned a tractor-trolley march to celebrate the Republic Day. The day will mark the completion of two months of their dharna at Singhu border in North Delhi. Considering the frequent suicides reported from the dharna venues, groups of artistes have been visiting them to express solidarity