We Indians!

This year's Republic day has been probably the most talked-about public events in recent history, thanks to its high profile chief guest, US President Barack Obama! With India's military might and cultural diversity being witnessed for the first time by a US President,  no stone was left unturned to make Republic day parade 2014 truly special! But whether you consider this year's Republic day as special or not, you cannot but deny feeling patriotic while watching  the  spectacular parade of the armed forces showcasing the best of Indian defense ammunitions and equipment, or the first-ever all-women contingent of the three forces marching across Rajpath, the cultural tableaux  from all the states, or the awarding Ashok Chakra medals , or the bravery medals for children - all part of Republic day extravaganza of the one of the largest democracies of the world! 

 

 

We always make it a point to watch the Republic day parade on television along with our son with our own live commentary though the program. Though we managed to catch only the first half of the parade this time as we were travelling back home, our eight year old sure seemed as fascinated as ...may be ... Obama!:-))) Anyway, for Republic day, I picked up a book meant more for younger kids - "We Indians" an NBT publication  by Mehroo J Wadia. This book serves as a nice little introduction for young kids to the cultural diversity of our nation. Each page features children of different states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Bengal, Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, etc and offers a quick guide to its unique culture, throwing some light on the intrinsic differences like names, dressing style, and the state's cultural symbols. Aided by suitable illustrations, each page also carries a question for your little one to ponder over. For instance, Amarjeet Singh from Punjab who dances the Bhangra asks "which dance form do you like ?" or Unnikrishnan Nair from Kerala who likes coconut tree the bests asks "which tree do you like best?" "We Indians" is an ideal book to acquaint the younger kids with the Indian ideal of "Unity in Diversity"! Happy Republic day everyone!