Independence Day

It was an unusually cold evening in the month of July when I was sitting in a local park in San Rafael gazing at the sky. A crowd had already gathered and almost completely covered every inch of the lawn before we could steal a few inches for our backs to rest. But, we showed who we are-Indians. We managed to squeeze ourselves in a blanket which spread over a small patch of grass. The park was still pulling in more crowd, a few of whom were carrying the American flags in their hands as a mark of their patriotism. It was the fouth of July-America's Independence day. Being one of the very few days when crackers were burst in America, it was absolutely amuzing for the Americans, no wonder the park was populated more rapidly a few minutes before the big event which was supposed to last for 10 minutes was to begin. As I took a look around, I noticed a lot of Indians, which was not that surprising because the bay area climate was easiest to get acclimatized to for the people from my soil. I kept receiving a few signs right from when I entered the park which made me feel that my patriotic feelings were going to be aroused. I felt the park was populated beyond its capacity, a thought that I should have never imagined of having walked in the Ranganathan street almost every weekend, yet one of my favourite places in Chennai. Afterall the park still had a lot of space according to Indian standards. A music started to play which also marked the beginning of the bursting of the crackers. Because of the hype that was created about the crackers and the event, I was more keen in looking out for crackers which I have never ever seen before. Much to my disappointment there wasn't many but one. As the sky began to sparkle I started wondering and afterall I wouldn't have been that surprised if I was told that the crackers came from Sivakasi. The one special cracker that grabbed my attention was indeed a fascinating one that left the ground with a gentle loud thud and ended up glittering the sky and which was fired into the sky like an array of bullets. It actually reminded me of the way Baghdad was bombed killing a lot of civilians, which not just according to me was a mistake on the part of US. There are a lot of discontented people here who feel it was unnecessary. The Americans actually are a peaceful lot. They live their own lives unaware of the external world, some of them don't even know about other states in US. The act of bombing was more an act of protecting themselves. They probably felt that offense was the best form of defense. I am not sure how many more bin Ladens they have created as a result. I am not complaining, this is the land that is giving me food, clothing and shelter for now and I am grateful for whatever I receive. Maybe, I am a little bit jealous of these people or maybe I am just admiring them. I have never ever seen so many people gather to celebrate the Indian Independence. Ironically, I have seen crowds of greater volume than this only in political party meetings in India. I truly admire the way all the Americans left the park after those 10 minutes wearing the look of pride and satisfaction. Honestly, I had never felt this patriotic when I was in India. It is absolutely true that the value of anything is realized only when it is deprived from you. Americans can't burst crackers as they wish and when they like, they have to get the permission from the state governor to even create the sound of an explosion, but look what you can do in India. I am waiting for the day when Indians start to celebrate Independence day like any other festival and realize the values of freedom and understand what they have... Though I don't see that happening in the near future, I shall await the moment and until then.. here i blog.