Seattle University Spectator

Issue: 7/14/08 Section: summer in india

Media Credit: Veronica Martin

Posted August 16, 2008

Azaadi har ek ki!

As we approached the heavy iron gates of the Cathedral School yesterday morning, we were greeted by warm smiles and soft voices. Our bleary eyes met with the students' bright ones, hardly outshone by their equally bright kurtas. This is the kind of hospitality which has become the mainstay during our trip so far. But the August 15 wasn't just another morning visit to academia. It was India's Independence Day, and all around the city, the holiday manifested itself through dashes of orange, white and green; here on the street corner in the form of a flag sold by small children with bare feet, there in sheer scarves at a nearby clothing store and right in front of our eyes upon the shirts of our fellow students, pins of various designs all intended to celebrate India's victory.

The celebration is relatively new. Only 60 times has India sung "Vande Mataram" and repeated their national pledge on this particular day, as their independence from the British was won in 1947. At the Cathedral School, the tradition took the form of song, dance and speech--delivered first by the head girl in Hindi, followed by the head boy in English. He addressed his audience, the youth of India peering up at the podium, with a steady voice--words meant to be more inspirational than nationalistic.

"Do we as Indians believe in ourselves?" he questioned. Citing their "infatiguable" fight against terrorism, "… the Indian spirit has shone stronger than ever." Though he was equally critical of his generation, asking after mention of recent drunk driving incidents, "Is this the image we want to portray of ourselves?" The next time a cab is stopped by the police, he continued, "don't let the driver hand over a 10 Ru note, but instead show his drivers license."

These youths are younger than those with whom we have been in contact with so far, but the message is still pertinent: Mean what you say, and think before saying it. As students of mass communication, and as decision makers in a globalized world equally full of opportunity as failure, cultivating such an awareness of multiple realities is vital. And this doesn't only mean politics and poverty; it means song and dance, too.

The morning would not have been complete without a celebration from a different medium than words. As female student Radhika Kumar moved to one of the four dances performed that day, I wondered if she had yet experienced the story of love and deceit depicted in front of her schoolmates. The audience, though dance pervades their culture, was not immune from the usual adolescent commentary upon their peers, sometimes breaking out into laughter--a joke obviously lost on us.

Continued...

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