Bored of the same dull rituals every Independence Day? It's time to change

If India's strength is yuva urja (energy of the youth), as the hoardings keep reminding us, can't that be the burden of the Independence Day spirit?

How many of us will greet each other with ‘Happy Independence Day!’ today? Pandrah Agast  (August 15) is how it is referred to, just as Republic Day is called Chhabees Janvari  (January 26). Looked at in another way, it marks the tapering-off of the monsoon, and the onset of the long ‘festive season’ – Onam, Rakhi, Eid-al Adha, Dussehra, Diwali, Christmas….

Photographs show us that on August 15, 1947, all Delhi was outdoors, crowding outside the Lal Qila, and in New Delhi scrambling up the Secretariat steps to take ownership of Raisina Hill. That spontaneity has withered away. Independence is projected