Happy Republic Day

[Dilbu]

Happy Republic Day. Bharat Mata Ki Jai!

Is there a separate picture thread or will the pictures go in the usual thread in mil forum?

[Chandragupta]

A very happy republic day to one & all.

Jai Hind!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!

[bksahu]

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY TO ALL OF YOU.........

[SSridhar]

Happy Republic Day to all fellow Indians.

Salute Havildar Rajesh Kumar & Major Mohit Sharma. RIP, sir.

[RKumar]

Happy Republic Day!!!

[Akshut]

The un-detachable nostalgic feeling associated with the old one, is something that cannot be overtaken by any remake...



Happy Republic Day to all.

[Klaus]

Bharat Ganarajya ke saatve varsh me sabi Bharatiyo aur Bharat Rakshako ko mere taraf se haardik shubkamnayein!

Jai Bharatmata ki!

[AdityaM]

Happy Republic Day!

Now the gripe starts:

I thought that fewer weapons were on display. Wasn't T90 missing?
The bravery awards for children were missing the elephants this time! Why ?

DD camera men need to be whipped! and whipped very hard.
I saw more footage of the idiotic kids of bureaucrats and politicians then of the army contingents. Some kids reappeared multiple time, so did some netas.
Its the same story of incompetence year after year!

The broadcast stopped even before the president left! what crap!

[shiv]

Aditya - not only that - even the weather was awful. Not suitable for a parade.

And guess what - I recorded it.

I for one would be happy to see fewer weapons on the Rday parade and more "Know your Army" type stuff in various cities as well as airshows and "open days" at navy/AF bases.

[AdityaM]

^ sure, but not at the cost of the parade!
I cant understand why irrelevant ministries must present their tableaus, power ministry, petrol ministry etc! its just elongates and dulls the parade.

The school kid segment at the end needs to be discarded. It adds zero value to the parade, rather makes it very boring. plus for the spectators, they can see nothing. the kids show is only for the President and babus eye only

[Tamang]

No, it is not a Military only parade. The performance by school children and various cultural centres add to the overall charm of the parade. Only thing the need to do is to invite school kids from different parts of the country, it is usually Delhi schools only.

[shiv]

No, it is not a Military only parade. The performance by school children and various cultural centres add to the overall charm of the parade. Only thing the need to do is to invite school kids from different parts of the country, it is usually Delhi schools only.

True. It is not a military parade alone and I think the military needs to get more "people oriented" and have shows in various parts of the country. Of course the military marching columns are very nice to watch - a real treat - this year was no exception, and as I get older I am tending to watch more of the other tableaux after having an eye open only for the military stuff in years gone by.

[Varoon Shekhar]

''...know your army.."

Long, long overdue for the Indian general public to know and acknowledge the sacrifices of soldiers( and policemen, paramilitary etc) in Kashmir and elsewhere. When Canada loses one soldier in Afghanistan, the media makes sure the public knows the soldier individually, and his family as well. There is also a news item about the funeral. The Indian media needs to do this more. They seem to acknowledge the incident in extraordinary circumstances, but not on an everyday, every week level.

[shiv]

The Republic Day military parade used to be a huge showcase of military might. I am glad that is no longer the case. The military should not be seen detached and far away once year.

It needs to be exposed for view in multiple areas all over the country. Vehicles and weapons are always an awe inspiring sight to young people as are smartly turned out servicemen. Showing them for 15 min on TV on 26 Jan (or 2 minutes on a pre-movie newsreel as I used to see as a child) is a national mistake. One more data point in my claim that India is a country yet to open its eyes.

[KrishG]

The un-detachable nostalgic feeling associated with the old one, is something that cannot be overtaken by any remake...
Happy Republic Day to all.

This years new version............




HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY !!!!!!!!!!

[Lilo]

గణతంత్ర దినోత్సవ శుభాకాంక్షలు

गणतंत्र दिवस की बधाई

This years new version............

The older version has a soul unlike this version.India is not about bollywood.Its about our diverse culture.Where are the indian citizens of northeast ? where are the tribals like gonds and banjaras of the hinterlands ? where are the millions of farmers and lakhs of soldiers ? where is the SOUL OF INDIA?

my comment on the newer version on you-tube.

[AdityaM]

[quote="Tamang"]No, it is not a Military only parade. The performance by school children and various cultural centres add to the overall charm of the parade. Only thing the need to do is to invite school kids from different parts of the country, it is usually Delhi schools only.[/quote]

Not wanting to beat the dead horse. i am not against the cultural aspect represented by the state tableaus, They are keenly looked forward to. But the tableaus from various ministries - there is scope to cut them out.
last year the school children were dancing to bollywood songs. this is where the script is lost.
my 'personal' feeling is that they should be done away with.
I also think the 'Birla Balika Vidyapeeth, Pilani' Band with flag bearers was missing. Were they? they have always been a permanent fixture.

[Akshut]

The older version has a soul unlike this version.India is not about bollywood.Its about our diverse culture.Where are the indian citizens of northeast ? where are the tribals like gonds and banjaras of the hinterlands ? where are the millions of farmers and lakhs of soldiers ? where is the SOUL OF INDIA?

Exactly! I dont understand the point of including most of the people from Bollywood. Maybe the makers wanted to lure the youth, and the only way they thought that's possible was to include Bollywood. Well then why not include Saas-bahu actresses to lure aunty-jis, and INDIA TV's anchors to lure lazy shop-keepers?

[kancha]

my comment on the newer version on you-tube.

The people on youtube have trashed this song nice and proper.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I first came across it this afternoon. The only saving grace was that they didn't include any Pakis

[ramana]

Happy Republic Day!

Folks can we atleast stop whining in this thread?

[tejas]

Happy Republic Day to one and all. JAI HIND !!

[jamwal]

Jai Hind

[Marut]

Happy Republic Day to all Indians

Now coming to the new version of the Mile Sur Mera Tumhara video.

After watching both the parts, I do agree with most people that the video lacks soul, well not totally, but it doesn't connect as well as the old one.

It's been two decades since the last one and things have changed a lot in the interim. The India of 1988 was very different from the India today. The Cold War was at its fag end, the elections in J&K had just triggered the militancy movement with Paki's support, our coffers were starting to empty slowly, telephone was still a luxury item as was the colour TV. A govt job was still coveted highly and private sector was still under license raj. Mandal Commission was poised to unleash it's havoc. In some ways, we were closed from the outside world.

Today India is one of the biggest and fastest growing economies. The situation in J&K has been stabilized enough to hold three free & fair elections since. Our forex reserves are overflowing and private sector is leading the way with our progress and development. Govt jobs are not as sought after as before. The shackles of the license raj have been broken lighting the entrepreneurial spirits of people allowing them to dream big and actually achieve them.

Now coming to the issue of Bollywood personalities dominating the video. It is a fair criticism but overlooks one big change IMO. Bollywood in those days was still dominated by a particular group of folks, mostly from the North. But the video has been created to reflect the India of today. Today's Bollywood isn't so. It has folks from different parts of the country as part of it and they are doing well. One gripe though was having all the Bollywood folks sing in Hindi. It would have been better to have them sing in their native languages and have more variety. Another gripe was the fact that more screen time was on the personalities than on the background. The background scenes were quite good but very little screen time

Some of the glaring errors in the video is the lack of representation of the North-East. Except Assam and a few shots of some sportsmen from there, nothing. There is no excuse for this faux pas. Additionally, there is no representation of our sportsmen in the video. Hardly anyone is part of it. While the military is included in the concluding sections, there is no presence of the paramilitary and police forces which have done a stellar job in various insurgencies & challenges that have cropped up in the country since 1988.

I give it 3/5 overall. Good effort but more needs to be done.

PS: I liked the scene with Salman Khan in the part I video. Now watch it to know what I am talking about!

[Sachin]

Happy (belated) Republic Day 2010.

Watched the local parade at one of the small towns in the Socialist Republic of Kerala . Some random thoughts....
1. The physical security at the venue seems to be quite good. The entire area was sanitised, and a bomb detection squad was right there at the venue. Fire Brigade and Ambulance teams were also in place. This is was not some thing done in the yester-years.
2. Large number of policemen in mufti in and around the area. Since I arrived at the venue early, I could see them being mustered and given their brief. And they got mixed with the crowd very smoothly . There was no harassment from the police side, of the general public citing the reason of security.
3. The Kerala Armed Police, Armed Reserve and the local police platoons had decided to march with their good old .303 rifles . Three years back, atleast the Armed Police marched with their SLRs. When there is already a notion of the K.P going from bad to worse in all policing aspects, this also got added up in the list. Even NCC platoons had SLRs with them.
4. NCC platoons seems to be taking too much liberties with their uniform accoutrements. All sorts of phoney medals etc. are getting pinned up on the uniform. Hope some body in the NCC directorate gives a good directive on what exactly is the uniform, and what exactly are the permissible accoutrements.
5. The crowd who witnessed the event was not that great (considering the number of people who turn up for even petty political functions), but who ever had come took interest in the proceedings. Felt happy that many of the ex-NCC cadets had actually come to the event with their small kids. 15-16 years back these chaps had marched in the same venue. There were also policemen and ex-service men who came with their kids.



Now eagerly awaiting the Beating Retreat Ceremony on the 29th Jan. Any body knows the timings?

[redbaron]

The un-detachable nostalgic feeling associated with the old one, is something that cannot be overtaken by any remake...



Happy Republic Day to all.

I agree totally..the newone is a joke..no sportsmen,bollywood overdose,k johar who i really dunno what contribution he has made,no lata,no sachin..

[SSridhar]

The President honours the heroes.



President Pratibha Patil presents the Ashok Chakra to Major Rishima Sharma, wife of Major Mohit Sharma (posthumous), Ms. Beeta, wife of Havildar Rajesh Kumar (posthumous) and Major D. Sreeram Kumar of 39 Assam Rifles during the 61st Republic Day celebration in New Delhi on Tuesday.
(Courtesey: The Hindu)

[Murugan]

'jana gana mana' bharat bala production audio CD/DVD pack is worth a purchase.

the section 'making of jana gana mana' gives a very good account of filiming the national anthem on worlds highest battelefield, with breath taking shots. Retd Gen N C Vij also appears in the same icy field saluting alongwith other sainiks.

a very good quality visual delight

[Sachin]

The Republic Day celebrations for the year 2010 comes to an end with the Beating the Retreat ceremony on the 29th of January. The event has just got over, and now the Rashtrapathi Bhavan is having a beautiful illumination display. As is the custom the military bands of all the defence forces took part in the event.

The bands played the classic tune "Sam Bahadur" composed by L.B Gurung as they took up their positions on Raisina Hills. The tune is dedicated to the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

The first to march up this year wear the Pipes & Drums of Indian Army. The pipers played;
1. Surya
2. Sky Boat (Boat song) - W.M Ross *
3. Piper's Cave - H.K Thakur
4. Marquis of Hartly
5. Highland Laddie - Scottish Traditional

The next to come up were the combined bands of Indian Navy and Air Force. They played;
1. Ocean's splendor - S.B Kalyani
2. Bhartiya Nau Sena - Cmdr. S.A Anchees
3. Sky Hawks - Sqn.Ldr P.K Jena
4. Swathanthr Bharat Ke Shaan - Cmdr. S.A Anchees *
5. Suvruth - J.A George

This was followed by the Indian Army Band. They played;
1. Hanste Lushai - Harold Joseph
2. Gangothri - Sub.Maj Bachan Singh Negi
3. Abhinandan - Maj. H.B Brall *
4. Dhola Re Dhola - Maj. Nazir Hussein
5. Giri Raj - S.R Khandpal

As part of the last act of the programme, all the three bands marched forward playing the tune "Gulmarg" composed by S.R Khandpal. Then it was time for the drummers (from the pipes & drums) to fall out and play the Traditional drum score of "On the Snare drums". The evening was soon setting in and it was time to play the traditional Christian hymn Abide With Me composed by W.H Monk.

The National flag was lowered and the buglers sounded the "Retreat". After taking permission from the President of India, the three bands marched away playing "Sare Jahan Se Acha" which was arranged for military music by Prof. A. Lobo.

* Slow Marches

Principal Conductor: Lt. (IN) S.K Champion
Army Band Master: Sub.Major Ramesh Singh
Army Drum Major: Nb. Sub. Dinesh Singh
Buglers led by: Sub. Allaudin
Air Force Band Master: Warrant Officer D. Ruben

PS: The linked tunes are available at BR Band Stand.

[Rahul M]

caught the last part of beating retreat on DD. nice.

[paramu]

Indian IT professionals in far away silicon valley also celebrated Republic Day.

Indian IT professionals celebrate R-Day

IT pros celebrate Republic Day in Silicon Valley