The Hindu : New Delhi News : Another tryst with destiny

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Thursday, Aug 16, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Another tryst with destiny

Kunal Diwan

NEW DELHI: Five-thirty a.m. on Independence Day. The Capital’s roads resemble a fresh-faced school boy scrubbed to attend a birthday party. Policemen and defence personnel accoutred with battlefield helmets and artillery line the streets, their hawk eyes scanning the locale for any signs of trouble.

Guard of Honour

The sprawling lawns of the Red Fort are teeming with security guards. Young recruits from the armed forces, selected for the Guard of Honour, are a bundle of nerves. Frenzied last-minute adjustments are made, belts are tugged at, caps are peaked to sit at the perfect angle, and an “instant shine” shoe-brush is hastily passed round to impart a final buff to steel-capped boots.

“It is an honour for me to march before the Prime Minister on the 60th anniversary of our Independence,” says Kimpu Ram, a Radio Communications Officer with the Indian Navy. Impeccably dressed as they all are, the sailors manage to stand out in their spotless whites as the official band stirs up a musical salute.

Deepak Kumar, a 24-year-old constable with the Delhi police, is one of several hundred guards on duty since 3 a.m. Deepak says it is only after a rigorous one-week special training at Manesar that he has been entrusted with this task. Does he mind the ungodly hour and the relentless vigil that is demanded of him? “Not one bit. In fact, it is a great honour,” replies the towering policeman, his gaze not once wavering from the bevy of visitors that percolate through the gates.

The Press enclosure is a blurry of colours and nationalities: brown, white, yellow, black. Several international correspondents rush to vantage seats from where to catch the action.

From China with Hindi

The Delhi bureau chief of Chinese Radio International, Nin Wei Dong, sits with his companion and runs his eyes over the press release of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech. The only problem is that he has been given a Hindi copy of the same. “I like this atmosphere,” he says, “there is a lot of ‘mahaul’ here. Office ‘main mahaul nahi hota he’.

Every stone and crevice of the Red Fort, informs seasoned State commentator Jasdev Singh over the public address system, is steeped in history. This is where Nehru gave his legendary “Tryst with Destiny” speech 60 years ago to the day and that very spot will be occupied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he addresses the nation in a little while from now. Once lauded by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for his commentary on Independence Day, Mr. Jasdev Singh appears slightly off-colour this day.

Also in attendance are 5,000 children from 32 government-run and aided schools in Delhi. Their teachers grace the media space and are overheard expressing their pleasure at being present for the ceremony. “I’m here on duty for the first time and would love to come again,” says Shweta Kumar, a science teacher at B.N. Rastogi School in Bhaghirath Place, as her colleague Renu Mann tugs at her sleeve in excitement.

Omnipresent

The school children are a sea of saffron, white and green. And of course khaki; the khaki is omnipresent. A ripple of applause runs through the audience as the Prime Minister approaches the pulpit. The speech ends and a flurry of balloons mark the end of the proceedings.

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