The Republic Day Parade

On my last full day in Delhi, I was given a ticket to the Republic Day Parade by my cousin’s friend (the same one who took me to the fantastic wedding). The Republic Day Parade is a very big deal. When I mentioned to other people that I had a ticket and where I was sitting, I felt like I was telling them I had a front row seat to a Bruce Springsteen concert in NJ.

When I first arrived in India I was told that any generalization I wanted to make about India, the opposite could also be proven to be just as true. Acknowledging that there are no complete truths in my observations about the parade, it was extremely interesting and exciting to be there as an outsider looking in. Fortunately, and unfortunately, I had a fantastic seat in the press section, directly across from the dais – however security was so tight, I wasn’t allowed to bring anything – including my camera.

The parade can be divided into three distinct sections – demonstration of military prowess, the pride of each state characterized in a “parade of roses”-type float, and groups of dancing and singing children on the scale of an Olympic opening ceremony. In some ways, the parade was like a visual state-of-the-union, with all the pomp and circumstance you’d expect. It was an announcement of the state’s accomplishments to the citizens and the world.

I usually think of India as the home of ancient civilizations, but independent India is only about 60 years old and the nation’s youth affects how the government presents itself to its citizens. Although I don’t think of India as being militant – actually quite the opposite with the images of non-violent Gandhi led revolution—it actually had a prolonged rebellion against Britain prior to the resolution led by Gandhi in the mid-twentieth century, and has been, with varying intensity, battling Pakistan since the day of the British partition inn 1947 (sound familiar?).

The guest of honor was PM Putin of Russia which I think made the military section of the parade feel even more like a communist May day celebration than it seemed on its own. I’ve really never seen anything like it in the United States. On the one hand, I saw the military part of the parade as necessary for a young nation to establish its credibility. On the other, in a nation where most of the population is illiterate, the impact of TV images creates an inaccurate picture-perfect perception, in a country which has many basic infrastructure problems, corruption on all levels of government and the police and literally cannot feed all its citizens.

That said, I was thoroughly entertained and impressed by the parade from start to finish. The parade route went from India gate, which looks a lot like the Arch d’Triumph in Paris to the Parliament along a extra-wide, flat boulevard lined by bandstands.

Regardless of the politics, I’ve personally never been so close to tanks and artillery, and I have to admit it was exciting and imposing, as intended. (The frenetic excitement and squealing of the family with three little boys sitting behind me added to the experience.) The military did also have the look and feel of India. As representatives of each division went by in their uniforms, with left arms swinging 180 degrees and the strait-legged, high-stepped marching, I had a flash of a Bollywood movie. The uniforms were more like costumes than camouflage, in line with the dress of the entire nation. I wish I had pictures of the hats that were part turban, with bright colored fabric folded in a fan-like fashion (slightly reminiscent of a napkin in a Chinese restaurant) attached to the top that made them look a little like proud peacocks strutting down the boulevard. The soldiers were followed by a border division riding camels dressed in mirrored embroidery, and elephants carrying the day’s honoraries.

Interestingly the day’s critics said a lot of the same things we hear today in the US. Although I was impressed with the scale of the parade, apparently the excitement is toned down in recent years. Some blamed it on fear of terrorism and the associated hyper security, some on a lack of nationalism or general apathy of the younger generation, and some on the loss of hope and optimism because of corruption in the government and police. In an environment that is so completely different from the US, you could hear the same about what is wrong in the US today. Is it another form of globalization?

In contrast to the military parade, the floats were about the cultural and historical achievements of the different states. Two points of note, first, there is a strange almost love-hate relationship between the Indians and the British. While most of the Indian’s are appreciative of the British for bringing an international language, an education system and the train system, they are also very proud of their ‘defeat’ of the British. This was shown in the parade in floats of states where major successful rebellions against the British were acted out– sometimes in rather gruesome detail. I’m not sure what it means, but I was surprised at how prominent it was in the minds of citizens, and not distant history the way that I think of the American Revolution. Maybe its because there are people who are still alive who remember when India was under British rule.

The second common focal point was the emphasis on equality for women. Unfortunately, its more of a theoretical goal for the country than an achievement. I’ll write a little about women’s issues later because I haven’t touched on it at all in my blog, but its really not a pretty picture. At least the public presentation is going in the right direction and the goal seems to be equal rights even if the practice has not caught up, unlike some other countries that regulate women’s activities.

If you can manage to be in Delhi for the Republic Day Parade, I put it on my list of highlights and recommend it.