Tryst with Destiny

Tomorrow....well it is 9:47EST so it is 7:15 AM Indian Standard Time, August 15, 2007. Sixty years ago on this date we made our tryst with destiny. I would like to quote part of the late Jawarharlal Nehru's , our first Prime Minister's address to the nation.....

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity......

It has been sixty years since India's independence from the colonial rule of the British. The Indian flag is a horizontal tricolour in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band, there is a wheel in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. This center symbol or the 'CHAKRA', is a Buddhist symbol erected around 250 BC. It's diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes, which intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. The saffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation; the white, for purity and truth; the green for faith and fertility. There are rules for the display of the Indian flag. Therefore when I first came to the United States, incidentally I left India on August 15th, I was really surprised to see the American flag displayed on private properties.

To all my American readers, July 4th is typically associated with fireworks, barbecue and drinking beer. August 15th, however, is a "dry day" in India. Dry day does not mean no rainfall or no water or no wetting beds but instead means that no alcohol is sold anywhere in the country as in restaurants, liquor stores etc. Of course there are certain states like Gujarat that are considered "dry" states in India, where alcohol consumption is prohibited (famous last words). India has certain days in the year that qualify as dry days, which includes certain festivals, Gandhi's birth anniversary, Independence day, Republic day etc. Of course that means no alcohol in public places....you could get sloshed at home with your friends! So the warning of dry days means....please stock your bar the previous day and get totally wasted on the "dry" day! With that to all my Indian readers...have a wonderful Independence day!...hic hic hic.