Skip to content Skip to navigation

Independence Day in Kuwait

Inquisitiveness, curiosity n proudness filled me as I got ready to attend the 62nd Independence Day at Indian Embassy,Kuwait. As we drove to the Embassy at 6.30am to reach and be part of the flag hoisting at 7.10am ,my mind was filled with different thoughts…thoughts of the many Indenpence Day we celebrated in our motherland Assam under the shadow of Assam Bandh . My one year daughter too wake up early that day as if she understood the importance of this special day. As we approach’d the embassy my husband park’d our car atleast 1km from the embassy as there was no space as hundreds of cars were already parked. As we came near the embassy we were pleasantly surprised to see hundreds of Indians from different walks of life and some like me with infants. People had Indian Flags in their hands. I felt so happy and proud when my infant daughter too took a flag and was waving. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat, Mera Bharat Mahan echoed in the air. The “Borah Drummers”, the members are Guajarati Muslims exhibited their talent and skills. Small school children and Doctors community sang patriotic songs. The Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra hosted the national tri-colour flag as we all stood there with proudness. He read out the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh’s message ,the speech which he gave to millions of Indians from the Red Fort .He also read out the various facilities and schemes that the embassy has taken for thousands of Indian workers. After the cultural programme was over ,the Ambassador met the common people and listen to their grievances if any. Deep feeling of proudness enveloped thousands who gathered there to be part of such a celebration. Mughal Mahal, a famous Indian restaurant gave free breakfast (paratha,chola,sweets) to thousands of people who gathered . Free supplements on Independence Day were distributed by The Times(Kuwait’s premier weekly newspaper) and Arab Times(Kuwait’s national daily).


In a foreign country that too in a Middle East Muslim country like Kuwait we celebrated it so much fun, proudness and most importantly without fear, then why not in our motherland Assam??Can’t we be like rest of India and foreign countries in observing our Independence Day???When will such a day come???These thoughts filled my mind as we drove back home.


I remembered Jawaharlal Nehru’s Independence Day speech…. "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will 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.... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again."


Its time for us, all assamese people to defy the Bandh and celebrate it with love, fun and frolic.


by Parimita Barooah Bora, Kuwait

Comments

SKumar's picture

The Ambassador infact read out the President of India's message and not the Prime Minister's. Anyhow thanks to Parimita for sharing her thoughts. We too feel proud like her to be part of the celebrations of our great nation.
Chintu Nath's picture

Pom-ba, it was a great coverage for us to know about how NRIs feel about their country and Independence. We Indians are actually, patriotic by birth; it is in our subconscious to feel great and own about our country. No matter where we live in heart we are always INDIANS, and the whole world today recognizes that.We must always endeavor to do better than before wherever we are, and mere that doing only will take our nation even higher and greater. Vande Mataram.
PriyalakshmiB's picture

Woh!such a gathering.

Pages

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

We will not hand over Koinadhara: Rockybul

14 Mar 2012 - 2:54am | editor
The Assam Government won’t allow Meghalaya to proceed with the claim over Koinadhara. Talking to reporters at the Assam Assembly House premises on Tuesday, the forest minister said that Dispur...

Assam Kickboxing Association to felicitate Sportsman Spirit

16 Sep 2008 - 3:51am | Nanda Kirati Dewan
Assam Kickboxing Association (AKA) will felicitate prominent and rising sports and sports related personalities next month. Noted critic Dr. Hiren Gohain as an advisor and Dr. Mamoni Raisom Goswami...

No ray of hope

6 Aug 2015 - 1:49pm | AT News
The Naga peace pact accord will hardly help the north eastern region restore peace and normalcy if the various parties, organizations and individuals are to be believed.Talking to reporters in New...

Freedom Fighter Pani Ram Das memorial cricket tournament concludes at Kalaigaon

10 Mar 2016 - 11:53am | Jayanta Kumar Das
Freedom Fighter Pani Ram Das memorial limited over cricket tournament concluded at Kalaigaon on March 9.The tournament was organized at Freedom Fighter Pani Ram Das play ground, Kalaigaon by Lucky...

Other Contents by Author

A brainstorming consultation on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was organised by Aaranyak, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Indian NGOs Forum Conservation of Biological Diversity (INFC) here on August 26 last in collaboration with National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).Aaranyak hosted the session at Indian Institute of Bank Management (IIBM), Guwahati. The timing of this meeting is consciously chosen prior to the international meetings of the CBD that are to be held in India through October 2012. The Government of India for the first time is hosting a Conference of the Parties (COP).In order to facilitate compliance to the Convention, a global forum where governments, non-...
Atleast 10 people sustained injury when Ulfa blew out an oil rig in Tinsukia on Saturday. Fire tenders took three hours to douse the fire. Meanwhile Ulfa has claimed the responsibility of the attack on OIL-owned rig. The explosion took place at the oil rig based at Chandmari near Makum in the wee hour where local residents came to hear a huge sound.
The United Liberation Front of Asom claimed to have blown off an oil well in Tinsukia district of Assam causing panic among the local residents on Saturday. The incident took place at Chandmari near Makum where the Oil India Limited-owned rig caught fire following a huge sound in the wee hours. No injury or casualty has been been reported so far. According to the OIL authorities, the fire was reported around 1 at midnight. Several fire tenders deployed there took nearly 5 hours to douse the blaze. Later the well was sealed. Initial investigation suggests it an attempt to steal oil from the well. The thieves made a hole in the oil well's high pressure `xmas tree' valve causing hydro carbon...
Money mattered in the murder of a 40 year old woman in Guwahati where a teenager boy killed his mother recently. Identified as Ankit Saikia the teenager boy and his friend Ranjit Gaur strangulated his mother Puja Saikia who was a caretaker at a Guwahati based building.
Tension erupted near Konadhara in Guwahati following the sudden death of a person at a n road accident on Friday. The incident took place in the evening when a person was crushed to death a person by a truck just near Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s official residence. Immediately after it, local residents in large number came out to the street and attacked the truck. Some others blocked the road. The situation was brought under control only after the arrival of police.
Sivasagar erupts in a massive move to flush out the Bangladeshi immigrants from the district when over ten thousand people took to the streets on Friday. Led by AASU leaders, cutting across party affiliations, thousands of people spilled to the streets demanding immediate steps to detect and deport the immigrants hiding in the district. Some others gave moral support by standing on the both sides of the road in the town from the Boarding field to AT Road through Hemchandra Baruah Road and Temple Road.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday expressed grave concern over the simmering communal tension in BTAD areas and called it is a major cause of worry for the entire country. Speaking to mediapersons on board to New Delhi from Tehran, he said that what worried him more was the ethnic clashes in Assam. “When I look at the future of our country, the way things have gone in Assam, the ethnic tensions that have disturbed peace in Assam, that part of Assam which is in Bodoland territorial administration”, he said.
Sonitpur media fraternity on Friday demanded ban on the All Assam Minority Students Union along with 30 other organisations alleging attack during their statewide bandh on August 28. Led by a group of scribes, over 7000 people took out a procession in Tezpur and submitted a memorandum to Governor and Chief Minister through the district Deputy Commissioner raising the demand. The media people further demanded immediate arrest of those responsible for the attack on the media persons.The journalist organisations included the Sonitpur Journalist Union, Journalist Federation of Assam, Sonitpur District Journalist Association and Sonitpur Press Club.
Former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta on Friday said that the ethnic clash would not be totally over until and unless the Assam Accord is not implemented in letter and spirit. Talking to reporters during a party procession in Guwahati, Mahanta who leads the regional party said that after 27 years of it being signed on August 15, 1985, the agreement had not yet been implemented. The party leaders demanded immediate steps for detection and deportation of illegal foreigners in accordance with the Assam Accord.
The Asom Gana Prishad on Friday demanded Prime Minister's intervention to make an end to the bloodbath bath in BTAD areas and Dhubri. Party leader who took out a procession from Ambari on Friday, submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister through the Kamrup (Metro) district Deputy Commissioner in Guwahati raising the demand.Talking to reporters party president and former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta blamed it all on the government of failing to efficiently deal with the situation in BTAD. They alleged that Dispur had no plan and strategy to counter the recent violence in the state known for unity in diversity.