Independence Day @ Sobha Palladian Aug 2019

From Mid July to mid August, 2019.

Everyday.  Sharp at 8.30 AM.

I would hear the the clatter of heavy boots on paved surface as our security staff practiced their march-past for 15 August Independence Day Parade.

A dozen ‘Saav-Dhan’ & Veesh-Ram’ and an equal number of ‘Bayein-Mud’ and ‘Dahiney-se’-TejChal!!’ would ring the air continuously for 30+ minutes before finally culminating in an enthusiastic signing of ‘Jana Gana Mana’ followed by ‘Bharat Maata ki Jai’ slogans. 
And then the  security staff would disperse and go back to their respective positions and their daily routine.

15 August – the D Day:  This day the ‘Squad’ performed smartly in front of all the residents of Sobha Palladian.

 And they put up a very impressive show!

Must appreciate the seriousness of their rehearsals and the efforts of their leader Captain Appa Saheb who turned out smartly  with a chest full of bravery medals.

And the day started with the typical & wonderful Bangalore chilly wind with cloudy skies and stayed that way throughout the I Day event without even a slight drizzle to dampen our mood.

And it was an awesome atmosphere as all the residents converged in front of the Flag pole.

Kids running all over dressed in bright costumes depicting our freedom fighters. 

Tiny tots wearing sizzling saffron, white and green ensemble waving our tricolor enthusiastically.

Ladies dressed in pure whites with tiranga shawls, and gents proudly displaying our national flag on their person.

It was a bright colorful, vibrant and festive atmosphere !!

People talking in animated voices, catching up with each other and braving the strong wind that was waiting to unfurl  our tiranga jhanda !!

And a shrieking noise pierces through the atmosphere as folks tune up the Amp and set up the mike for the real action.

Smartly dressed in a green saree, and with an impressive diction,  our Emcee, Ms Gayatri Srinivasan welcomed all the residents of Sobha Palladian, our Chief Guests  and all the support  staff to the 73rd Independence day celebrations. 'We will pay homage to the generations of men and women who gave up their lives to gives us the lives that we lead today !' - She proclaimed.

 

The band strikes a smart note.

The Squad marches past smartly. The chief guest take the salute.

Emcee invites the chief guest to unfurl the flag.

We all stand in attention and sing our national anthem in chorus and in perfect unison.

Our Guests of Honor

Group Captain S Chennakeshu

Col Jaggi Narula

Group Captain Satish Mehta
Lt Col DP Mathur.

Our Chief Guest  was a sprightly 94 year old Grp Captain Chennakeshu.
Born in 1925 and served in the Indian Air force from 1947 to 1969. From 1969 to 1984 he worked in HAL. He then served as guest faculty in IISc. and IIT and a consultant for DRDO.

And then as requested by the Emcee, KrishnaKumar, (KK) Director Honeywell India. delivered his address. Two key takeaways form his wonderful speech ..  

‘ Patriotism is not standing in front of our national flag twice a year and singing our national anthem’.

‘Patriotism is serving our country to the best of our abilities and helping India become an economic super power and a leader in world politics.’

His message - Lets us not just blindly chase after money & high paying jobs alone, but strive to work in other areas that can help build better societies and make India a better place in this world.

"What is a celebration without song and dance ??"

Suhana & Riya  singing  Ae Watan - a song from film Raazi .




And an energetic number from an unreleased Slaman Khan 'Dus' sung by Rafi and Kishore of Palladian - Srini, Natraj & Sukanya..
Suno Gaur se duniya Walon






Another evergreen patriotic number sung by Mukesh of Palladian - Anand Kulkarni from film Hum Hindusani
Chodo kal ki Batein. Kal ki baat purani...

Vande Maataram by duo Anandita and Ahana on the keyboards

And then our freedom fighters took over the stage with their dance performance!!

The theme of the dance was how we got freedom because of the sacrifices of many of the freedom fighters. We got freedom, we celebrate freedom but we still have issues which only we can fight if we are together.

Tipu Sultan   (1750 - 1799)

To live like a lion for a day is far better than to live for a hundred years like a jackal

Dyuthi as Tipu Sultan performing to the beats of New India !!







 
 Karnataka's Pride - Rani Kittur Chenamma (1778 - 1829)

  Nimageke kodabeku kappa?

Checkout Ahana's wonderful swordplay !!                              
Music -Bharat humko Jaan se pyaara 'Tamizha Tamizha'    

                                                                                     

                                                                           

Mangal  Pandey (1827 - 1657)       

Maro Firangi Ko !!

Gauri defies the British - Chandel Revenge Background

Rani Lakshmibai (1828  - 1858)

 Meri Jhansi Nahin Doongi!!

Ferocious Sword Weilding Ria - Mahamati title Music !!         
                                                                                     

 
Subhash Chandra Bose (1897 - 1945)      

Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Mai Tumhe Azadi Doonga !!

Vaibhav in Action !! Set to Glory .
      

                                                               



 Chandrasekhar Azad (1906 - 1931)
 Ab bhi jiska khoon nahi khaula khoon nahi vo paani hai, jo desh ke kaam na aaye vo bekaar jawaani hai !!!

 Watch Akaisha weilding her huge hand gun ! - Game Of Throne  Theme                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Bhagat Singh (1907 - 1931)

Inqlaab Zindanbad !!

Ayush as Shaheed Bhagat Singh performing to the beats of Special Forces !




                                                                         
 Mahatma Gandhi (1869) - 1948)

  You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Adrish as Gandhi - Background Music Homecoming !






                                                                                                         Aarna & Mansi - our own young Bharat Mataas !! Proudly waving our Tricoolor - Vande Maataram.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Celebration of freedom dance:

 (Freeda, Swetha, Ritu, Laxmi, Meghna, Ayantika, Supriya and Niveditha)

Vande Mataram once again ! SP ladies dancing graciously to the wonderful melody of this song !!
      This dance was a semi classical piece having liberation and its happiness as its basis theme. The song was AR Rahman's Revival Vande Mataram.

                                                                                                                                                                       

       
                                                                          And then the commandos arrive.An action packed Thriller - Mein ladu jaana !!                                                                                                      From URI depicting the bravery of our Jawans !!                                                                                                                                                       
The enthusiasm shown by the kids and ladies towards the dance was tremendous. For kids, it was a month and a half of prep work and for adults it was 2 weeks of practice. They used to come for practice without any complaints. And the mothers of the kids helped in all the dress up of the kids.


All the dances were choreographed by Nivedita.

The freedom fighters costume was rented from Fantasy creations, Kundanahalli.

The army costume was procured from Amazon. The guns were procured from Ramdev, Malleshpalaya.

The tricolor costume for Aarna and Mansi (modern day bharat mata) was graciously given by Yojana.

The adults costume was paired with tricolor shawl which was procured from Ramdev, Malleshpalaya.

The placards were made with a lot of enthusiasm and dedication by Mohanavalli , Dyuthi  and Supriya.

Our sincere thanks and appreciation to each and every member of the cultural committee, the young performers, the elder ones too, and to all the volunteers for putting up such memorable event !

And my special appreciation and thanks to Manoj for so professionally capturing these wonderful moments through his lens !!

And the bar has been set higher for all the following events in the future !!!

Krish..