70 Years Past Midnight - Part II

.. continued Flag-lowering is a daily observance at the Wagah Border, open to the public this day. On our view of the gate: l --- Bharat ------------------------------------------------- India --- l A crowd gathers on either side - Eleven thousand are provided seats. Not unlike a cricket match, except everyone leaves satisfied. (Communalism - it caused two parts of a whole to drift apart. Seven decades later and to this day, sweets are exchanged across the frontiers.) With measured steps they neatly stride, a silver blade in hand upright. Handmade badges turned to gallantry ribbons.. a soldier’s uniform is always lined. revered fabric  draped across two sturdy palms nation in his arms ~Late Evening TV Coverage of the morning’s events - The Prime Minister’s speech~ A crew stands on nine years of sandstone - A bird’s view from afar. Hailed by music he walked into a constellation of schoolchildren ‘Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high’. Acceptance is the first step towards change: Violence in the name of faith is unacceptable. "In the New India, the biggest strength is democracy.  But we cannot reduce ours to mere ballot boxes. Our resolve is to have a democracy where people are not driven by the system, but the system by the people." I watch the proceedings many states away nation in our hopes -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jai Hind Tricolour lighting in my city: www.youtube.com/watch?v=herkuupDnAo Internationally: www.ndtv.com/offbeat/independence-day-2017-indian-embassies-light-up-in-colours-of-the-tricolour-see-pics-1737756