Skip to main content

HAR DIL MAIN TIRANGA

 

















HAR DIL MAIN TIRANGA

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

14/VIII/2022

 

 

There was a burst of pink which welcomed me to a new dawn. Pink rain lilies, true to their nature, spread so much of ‘pinkish happiness’. With a smile on my face and camera in hand, it was time to explore.

 

Children have been the centre of activity in the last couple of days. With the 75th Independence Day around the corner, they have been gathering in the park to practice their lines to be delivered for skits being organised in their schools.

 

Their enthusiasm is palpable. Someone is portraying Rajguru, someone Sukhdev, someone Bismil, shouting slogans ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, Little girls who generally keep doing dance steps, practicing Savdhaan-Vishraam. Some practiced saluting. Some practiced their turning movement on the command of I reckon, the Head Boy… ‘Parade dahine murega… dahine mur. The small squad counting...ek… do teen… ek’. I just loved it.

 

Water droplets started falling from the sky, warning me that it was time to rush home.

 

As I entered the colony gate a different scene caught my eye. It was the milkman and a kitten. The small kitty was bruised and hurt but fine otherwise. After delivering milk to the intended home, he filled up his ladle and gave a short call. Out came this kitten from her hiding place like a bullet. As if she knew it was ‘dudu’ time.

 

There was no container to pour the milk, so the milkman requested the guard to see if he could find something. The Guard found a plastic container, picked up a leaf and cleaned it from inside. It wasn’t clean enough. So, the milkman requested him to clean it again.

 

The impatience of the kitten was visible. She mewed loudly and rubbed her body on the legs of the milkman with her tail standing, making a figure of eight, as if saying, ‘why are you delaying, I am so hungry’. The guard also did the ‘Rajasthani dry cleaning’. He sprinkled some dry sand in that container, churned it around nicely, tapped it on the gate firmly, then wiped it with another leaf. Doodhwala ji poured the milk and the kitty's wait was over. It was kitty’s Independence Day celebration.

 

Around the colony one could see National Flags fluttering. Some are even lighting their homes in the tri-colour theme. Am looking forward to participating in the Independence Day function.

 

A couple had come to the bus stop to leave their daughter. A dainty little girl, she was. I was wearing a camo T shirt and a veterans cap. Her Dad said, ‘beta fauji Uncle, Jai Hind bolo’. My-My, the way she blushed, lifting her water bottle strap in her mouth. Then gathered courage, stamped her leg and saluted me and said ‘Jai Hind’. I too stood at shun and saluted her back, with a Jai Hind.

 

The spirit is there to see and the tempo is building up and why not. After all it is our Independence Day and we definitely should celebrate it. I am happy to be alive to celebrate it.

 

Wish you all a very happy 75th Happy Independence Day. ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ and let me add ‘Har Dil main Tiranga’ should always be kept. What do you say? I wonder!!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© NOEL ELLIS

 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINGER ON YOUR LIPS

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/IV/2025   What has happened to Pakistan? While India is doing Fauji Exercises, Pakistan has mobilised for what! I agree that the people of India want revenge. But, from whom? Our PM has only said that “we will not leave the terrorists and their supporters till the end of the Earth”. He has never said he will sort out Pakistan, or has he?   It has been hilarious watching discussions on Paki social media channels. They seem to have already given up. Our RM meets the PM and Pakistan starts shitting bricks. They talk about jazba and gazwa, and start telling us about their nuclear arsenal. 160 I suppose. By the way we will send across one equivalent to your 160 if need be.   There is a saying, ‘Chor ki Dari main tinka” literal meaning is, a straw in a thief’s beard. However, the deep meaning is that a guilty person reveals his guilt through his behaviour, even unintentionally. Clearly, “a guilty conscious needs no accuser”...
12 comments
Read more

SCENE AT ELLIS’ RESTAURANT

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   04/XI/2024   Every morning the scene in the Ellis’ restaurant is so refreshing. The notes birds sing sounds like ‘reveille’ being sounded by the buglers. The ‘scenario’ keeps varying with arrival of different birds at different timings.   It is like being a restaurant owner, working solo with minimum help. Yours truly is the waiter, housekeeper, cook, receptionist, barman, purchase manager, accountant, and storekeeper of this shack. Imagine!   Foremost thing in the morning is housekeeping of the garden area, followed by watering the pots. This gives the plants a nice bath, like kids being readied for school.   The first set of ‘clients’ called the ‘Tailor Birds’ appear. They love to hunt for insects which get disturbed by the watering ritual. They sing and dance, hop and skip and carry on chasing moths and worms, without bothering about my presence.   By then the Bulbuls and the Sparrows start lini...
17 comments
Read more

IF THERE IS A WAR…...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   28/IV/2025   I remember the 1971 war as a small child. We were in Kapurthala Punjab, very close to the Pakistan border. It was an evening in December, I do not remember the exact date. While returning from a friends house, the declaration of war was done as I skipped along the ‘Thandi Sarak’ of Kapurthala.   The gist was that a vehicle with loud speakers was telling people to head home as an "emergency" had been declared and war had started. I ran as fast as I could, shivering with fear and my heart beating unusually fast. Though I was a lap baby when the 1965 war had taken place, it appeared serious business now.   Overnight, Dad and other Uncles started digging trenches infront of our homes. Carbon paper was no dearth in a teachers house, so mom got into an overdrive to stick them to the glass windows. Though the glass had been painted during the 1965 war, some broken panes had been replaced. Mom told ...
2 comments
Read more