Celebrating true spirit of nationalism

Ireceived a call early in the morning from a friend. “Would you like to celebrate Republic Day with schoolchildren in a village?” she said. Her NGO was organising the event in a remote village near Jaipur. I replied in the affirmative and persuaded my reluctant husband to accompany me. My sister somehow got wind of our plan and she too became a keen accomplice.

We set out on a 12-hour drive to Kotputli, a small town midway between Delhi and Jaipur. It was a long and tiring journey for us, not in habit of frequent excursions. A night’s stay in the little town and we were raring to go in the morning.

After a light breakfast, we set off for our destination, 30 km from Kotputli, out of which 10 km is unmetalled road. By 10am, we were at Purshottam Pura, a nondescript village of Rajasthan, where a one-room panchayat bhavan welcomed us with the slogan, ‘Padharo mhare desh (Welcome to our country)’.

A steaming hot cup of tea at the house of the village head and we were ready to march to the government high school on the outskirts of the village to be welcomed by students, with marigold garlands. The head of the NGO was felicitated by the tying of the traditional turban by the village elders.

Sitting under the sublime warmth of the January sun with a gentle breeze blowing, the atmosphere was perfect for the unfurling of the national flag which was followed by the singing of the national anthem in unison. We never had an opportunity to witness the Republic Day ceremony from such close quarters. It was an exhilarating and mesmerising experience.

A brief speech by the school principal was followed by a traditional welcome song in Rajasthani. Skits, plays and dance performances were enacted with unmatched elan and zest. But what held my attention was the naturalness and sincerity of the students. Despite meagre resources, they had the fervour and zeal to celebrate the day of national importance, which we urbanites can’t experience by watching the ceremonial Republic Day parade on TV.

Tears welled up when children performed on Lata Mangeshkar’s “zara aankh mein bhar lo paani” with unparalleled energy.

Our NGO pledged to build the boundary wall and main gate of the school and provide benches and tables for serving midday meals to students .

The celebrations concluded with traditional Rajasthani lunch for guests. Sitting down on the ground and savouring daal baati churma and bajra roti with dollops of butter was a divine experience which no amount of money in the world can buy.

To top it off, we were provided bajra rotis with pickle, neatly wrapped in cotton napkins for our journey back home.

Thank you Purshottam Pura for introducing us to the true spirit of nationalism and hospitality. We look forward to visiting you again.

IN A RAJASTHAN VILLAGE, A ONE-ROOM PANCHAYAT BHAVAN WELCOMED US WITH SLOGAN OF ‘PADHARO MHARE DESH’