Independence Day

Today is India’s Independence Day. Just like the States, everybody get the day off from school and work and all that jazz. But the texture of the day is a bit different. It has only been 62 years since India won her independence and the immediate fall out from the British leaving and bisecting India into the nations of Pakistan (majority Muslim) and India (majority Hindu) was a very messy and bloody affair. Millions died in the scramble to get to the right side of the new border. The first generation to taste independence is still living, so the stories are real and independence means so much to those who lived when it did not exist.

We had our own little flag raising ceremony up on the top deck and sang a few songs commemorating the struggle and then the national anthem of India (and by we, I really mean I hung out while the boys did the heavy lifting since it was all in Hindi). It was great to share that with the little dudes.

The day was not all ceremony, though. I had put together some history on the Indian flag that we went through with the boys and this was topped off with a contest of ten flags from other nations with the one who identified the most getting a bag of potato chips.

Then the best part of all was we spent the entire afternoon flying kites. Not the plasticy-can’t-really-fly-but-are-dirt-cheap-at-wal-mart-so-we-still-buy-’em kind. But the real, bona fide paper kites that every child on the sub-continent grows up flying (if you’ve read the book “Kite Runner” then you’ll know what I’m referring to. If not, pick it up, it’s a great read). It was the perfect afternoon for it and the hours just flew on by. It was also pretty special in that the caretakers here at the Home, Berindra and Rita, were able to leave and see family for the afternoon so that meant that I had all the boys to myself for a good portion of it.

All in all, such a great day and a chance just to remember that many of the things we enjoy in life came at a huge cost to others in our past as well as enjoy the simple things like paper kites and string and being together for an afternoon...