India's 64th Republic Day

Happy Republic Day!!.....64^th Republic Day of the Indian Republic……an eagerly awaited holiday…..a day to celebrate……a day to listen to patriotic music……a day for making and listening to speeches……or may be just another day for most of us…..But what if we take out some time today to sit back and reflect about the significance, meaning and a sense of responsibility attached to this day? 64 years back, on this very day, our newly independent nation formally adopted its Constitution and all its citizens pledged to abide by it. After a long and tedious process, the Constituent Assembly consisting of eminent personalities who had been assigned to this stupendous task, gave us this Constitution.

After 200 years of sweat, tears and blood, India had finally succeeded in gaining its independence on 15^th August 1947. The members of the Constituent Assembly had a momentous task ahead of them. They had to frame a Constitution suitable for a nation in the making, a nation in a nascent phase, taking baby steps towards establishing itself in the world. Bled for 200 long years by foreign rule and then disabled by amputating a part of it to form another nation, India was then a far cry from what it has been able to turn itself into today. Looking at its diversity in various spheres, it was confidently predicted by many that the existence of this “so-called nation” would be short-lived. These were the conditions in which our founding fathers were charged of giving this nation a befitting Constitution. Looking back, it would not be an exaggeration to say that given the circumstances and resources at their hand, our Constitution makers accomplished a near-impossible task in a praiseworthy manner. Given the state of the nation at that time, they felt it necessary and rightly so, to frame as detailed and voluminous a Constitution as they did. No doubt, India’s is the longest Constitution among all the nations of the world. They tried to lay down organizational structures, frame rules and regulations, provide frameworks and put forward their ideals and vision for the future of the nation.


But in no manner did they try to make it a rigid document. They were well aware that as times change and as the nation progresses, there is bound to be a need for updating the Constitution itself. They included suitable provisions for the same and relied on the Legislature and the Executive of the day to understand and use the same wherever and whenever required.On this Republic Day, let each one of us ask ourselves….Have we made a sincere effort in understanding and abiding by the aspirations and hopes of our founding fathers, laid before us through this document? Have we genuinely tried to understand the letter and more importantly the spirit of the Constitution? Have we been able to grasp the intent behind what was laid down? Have we been able to read between the lines whenever required?We won’t have to search hard for answers to these questions. They are right in front of us, if only we have the will and the courage to ask ourselves these tough but essential questions…. If only we have the courage to put ourselves in the dock. I leave all of you, the government and the governed alike, with these questions which all of us will have to answer for ourselves. Let us take some time to reflect today and who knows, this reflection may pave the road towards making our nation what its founding fathers had dreamt it to be. A few minutes of reflection and a sincere will for action on the part of each one of its citizens, may lead this great nation to its rightful place in the world.