Happy Republic Day

kickin' it old school wit
Depeche Mode: 101
Tribe Called Quest: Low-End Theory

I'm finally back, and happy Indian Republic Day to all my worthy and lovely readers. I remember being back in India last year on this day, kickin' it with my brothers, one getting married, the other on the "very available" list, and watching the goosestepping pride and glory of India on the TV screen in Jamnagar. Jamnagar - which had been so exuberant to greet the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, architect (or in the most generous reports, encouraging bystander) of the 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left thousands dead and tens of thousands without home or hearth.

Republic Day is the day that the Indian government pulls out all the stops and shows off its military strength. I remember the utter lack of nationalistic chauvinism that I felt when they wheeled out one of the nuke-enabled missiles named after deities (Agni, Prithvi). Flex, Mother India, as the rest of the world cries.

But Republic Day is also a holiday, and while not as festive or as special as the many cultural holidays that populate polyglot India's calendar, it brings to mind the recent memories of rooftop kite-flying and festivities that we experienced for the first time during the trip from which we just returned. Uttarayan is my favorite holiday in any time zone.