January 26 is an important day in the lives of every Indian. It is the day when the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950. Many feel that the day has just become another holiday for everyone, watching flag hoisting by the Prime Minister of India in Delhi on our TV sets. Kids, however, do attend flag hoisting in school and reminisce about the history of the day. Celebs talk about the importance of the day and whether the special day has merely become a holiday for everyone. They also share their favourite patriotic song.
Somy Ali-This is perhaps the most important day for the citizens of India because it is on this day that gives them the power to select their own government. It is “of the people, for the people and by the people.” This sentence should not be taken lightly as it constitutes immense power in the hands of its citizens. My favourite song when it comes to being a patriot of India will always be from Manoj Kumar films as no one depicted patriotism in its truest way than him. Hence the song would be, ‘Hai Preet Jahan Ki Reet Sada Main Geet Wahan Ke Gaata Hoon’.
Kiran Raj-The constitution of our country was formed on this day with a lot of efforts and sacrifices made by our leaders and freedom fighters. It’s a proud day for our nation and I think it definitely deserves more than just a flag hoisting. I think there should be more awareness about this day and over time people have forgotten the importance of the day, especially the youth. People should get more creative and celebrate Republic Day and value its importance like how it was done during our childhood days. My favourite patriotic songs are ‘Mere desh ki dharti’ and ‘Maa tujhe salaam’.
Sham Mashalkar- My favourite patriotic song is ‘Ae mere vatan ke logo, zara aakh me bhar lo Pani’ and yes we do flag hoisting in our society. I make my son listen to the story of shaurya and virangana on this day. I feel that yes we are just taking it as a holiday but we can do a lot of things like growing five to ten trees and doing something in our small way. We can educate people or I can give free lectures on acting that day to those who are interested. We can do something which benefits the upcoming generation. I feel that positive changes take place in people’s mindset.
Angad Hasija- I would say that till we were in school we used to get a different feeling. We used to make flags and colour them. There used to be school functions. But after school it has just become a holiday. I think that in our society everything is celebrated on a huge scale like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day… Things have gotten specialised, which is good. But on January 26 not much happens. For our culture and country we should contribute more. We can change ourselves in terms of keeping our surroundings clean. It’s everyone’s India so if we don’t keep clean who will do. If even one takes a step ahead then a huge difference could be made.
Aditya Deshmukh- Every year we all celebrate this occasion. I remember that during my school days we used to get toffees and chocolates in our school. There used to be flag hoisting. We also used to have a bouquet ceremony in our building and it used to be a get-together. My favourite patriotic song is from the movie Lakshya, ‘Ha yahi rasta hai tera, tune ab Jana hai’.