Republic Day is undoubtedly something  very big for us Indians and today we will be celebrating the 70th edition of this grand day with overflowing  gusto and passion , like all other previous years. Although most of us associate this day with the grand Republic Day parade at New Delhi and simultaneously at all state capitals and UTs, the day is a whole lot more than just that. It is the day in 1950 when we formally adopted the Constitution as the guiding document and emerged as an independent republic ,the day when monarchy was demolished from our land and the day  we told the world with pride  that we are  a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic.To say it in  a more common man’s language, this day gave us the power to elect our own representatives to run our  democracy, the largest in the world.

The story of the choice of January 26 is perhaps known to most of us . But while discussing this super day, emotions invariably grip us and we can’t help but reminisce. During the Lahore session of the INC (Indian National Congress) in 1929, it was for the first time the demand for complete independence was made and as a follow-up to this, 26th January 1930 was declared as Purna Swaraj Diwas (meaning Independence Day). Thus while   finalising the day on which the Constitution should come into effect, 26th January was the sacred choice to honour the wish of our valiant freedom fighters who were the first to demand complete independence. Now that we have a glorious legacy of a democratic nationhood a little bit of retrospection will perhaps be apt at this juncture.We are a 134+ crore people inhabited country with a multi- religious, multi-linguistic and multi-ethnic character. Given that , marching ahead as a unified nation and keeping intact the democratic essence of existence is no mean achievement. Rapid advancements in science and technology, IT, digital penetration , superior banking industry and a growing middle class population with substantial purchasing power are all very  true. Equally true is the stark presence of the demon named poverty , a challenge yet to be surpassed. We declare ourselves as an agricultural economy with jai kishan slogan  and  still not that serious and patient to listen to the woes of our  farmers and ignore their suicidal deaths nonchalantly! That our developmental mechanism has somehow failed and fruits of progress  haven’t really percolated to points intended can well be understood if we look at our state of Arunachal Pradesh. A state which was sure to be the number one foreign exchange earner for the nation by means of tourism  alone due to  the sheer natural beauty it possess and hospitability it doles out does not have a commercial airport – a reality, difficult to gulp standing today , on the morning of the 70th day   of our republic existence. Overall ,there is shortage of genuine happiness and security all throughout the nation , not to say about corruption which has now become  hi-fi.

My India is great -we have believed it  for so long. If corruption is infectious , honesty can equally be viral. Let us make honesty viral to make  India more greater.