Charge!
I’m covering India’s Republic Day celebration in New Delhi from an arm chair in Mumbai. The TV images are good. A huge parade is passing the reviewing stand showcasing tanks, long guns and missile launchers, followed by more than 2 dozen military organizations decked out in rich ceremonial colors–red coated colonels on white horses–both wearing lots of gold braid in old British Buckingham Palace style. (I’ll send a separate pic file–too hard for me to load them here.)
Homeland Security
Each of the nation’s 26 states then presents a float highlighting its unique culture and industry. Then come acts from local and regional police, as in cops as acrobats stacked 5 high on motorcycles. Then there’s a fly over with a fighter called the Jaguar that looks like a French Mirage, capped by the release of thousands of orange, white and green, balloons.
Surfer, er Fishing Ministry Dudes
PM M. Singh
The reviewers are prime minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Ghandi, leader of the ruling Congress Party. The special guest is the prime minister of Thailand. It’s cold in Delhi and everyone is bundled up except the more attractive wives of leaders seem to be peeling off coats for shoulder shots when the cameras pan in. The old gals stay tucked into scarfs.
Well Done Old Boy!
India didn’t become a republic until 1952, 5 years after Independence. As a very young nation Republic Day isn’t just a holiday from work, it holds patriotic respect, but there are still hundreds of Mumbai folks strolling on the breakwater here overlooking the Arabian Sea enjoying a warm afternoon.
The day is a good break for me too. I’ve been running flat out since last Friday. The office drill is organize a big meeting, fly off on a distraction like getting curtain rods for my apartment or a sudden meeting with candidate for a fellowship–then a hurry up call to a researcher to finish a paper–then forget about the paper. Like Italy, somehow things get done. Nobody forgets to eat or laugh a lot. And some in the office, like Aksay who ran a reaearch group at Fidelity in Boston for 9 years, have become disciplined allies and guides to stepping away from the maelstrom.
Aksay showed me a quiet conference room yesterday where I was able plug in earphones and top edit a 12,000 word white paper–bringing it pretty close to finished. Estefa, the 25 year old NYU trained woman author, had 8 months noodling away with it on her screen, making her a sure candidate for asylum. This must stop, I vowed.
After I week I both expect to earn my plane ticket and learn something along the way.
Gotta head to my yellow park bench for some air.
