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

Other Contents by Author

Dibrugarh andTinsukia are all set to get CNG fuel for automobile. The proposal is awaiting clearance of Public Investment Board. Assam Gas Company Limited ( AGCL) preparing a blueprint to launch the CNG project in all the Upper Assam districts within a short spell of time. But the state is yet to have CNG connection. AGCL sources said that there are lot of scope for CNG fuel in Dibrugarh town where the commercial vehicle would be benefitted as the town is near to Duliajan. The project is expected to come up within a year.
Police have arrested four youths so far in connection with the molestation case of a girl in Guwahati on Monday night. Identified as Dhanraj Basfor, the youth was arrested on Wednesday evening on the basis of the footage beamed by the satellite TV news channels. Police further have also identified another three - Dhruba Jyoti Kalita, Sikandar Basfor and Dipak Dey. Dhruba Jyoti Kalita, an employee of state government's IT development agency Amtron, was sacked on Tuesday and he is still absconding. Dhanraj and Sikandar reside in Horizon colony of the Indrapur area here and working at Gauhati Medical College Hospital. The other youth, Dipak Dey, is said to be an auto rickshaw driver who...
Lawyers across the state joined their colleagues in other parts of the country by responding to the Bar Council of India's call to protest against the government's Higher Education and Research (HER) Bill on Wednesday.It will continue on Thursday also. Hundreds of lawyers gathered at the premises of the Gauhati High Court, which is currently on summer vacation, and burned copies of the bill. Similar protests were also reported from other parts of the state. The BCI had given the two-days' protest call, beginning, against the HER Bill, accusing the government of trying to usurp the power of advocates' apex statutory body to regulate the legal education and profession in the country.
Security forces recovered two Chinese hand grenades and ammunition from an encounter spot in Karbi Anglong district on Wednesday. According to information, acting on a tip-off, a joint team of army and police had launched a search operation at Rongmongwe area under Dalamara police station in the hill district on Wednesday morning, where a militant group of KPLT was hiding. The militants managed to flee from the encounter spot, but security forces recovered two hand grenades, two magazines and 30 rounds of live ammunition.
The Centre on Wednesday extended its bilateral ceasefire with the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) in North Cachar Hill districts to further extend suspension of operations for a period of six months upto September 30, 2012.According to an official release, an agreement of SoO between the security forces and DHD has been in operation with effect from January 1, 2003 and has been extended periodically and will now be valid upto September 30.Tripartite talks on the demands of DHD are continuing. A Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) headed by Joint Secretary (North-East), Ministry of Home Affairs has been constituted to review the implementation of agreed ground rules. Meetings of JMG have been held...
Assam agriculture minister said that the flash floods affected 2,54,000 hectares of cropland across 23 district affecting over 10 lakh families. Talking to reporters in Guwahati on Wednesday, he said that the state had lost a total crop worth over Rs. 992 crore. According to him, the government has distributed 57,000 quintals of seeds had among the flood affected farmers and the process is on to procure more seeds from various sources to be distributed among the affected farmers.He said that the state government has sanctioned Rs.109 crore to help the flood affected farmers.
The Assam government is contemplating double cropping pattern in around 5 lakh hectares from next season to help the people get out of the flood aftermath. Addressing a press conference in Wednesday, agriculture minister Nilamoni Sen Deka said that the government has a slew of steps to boost the agricultural production. He said that the department has fixed the production target for autumn rice as 3,60,000 tonnes this year while the target for winter rice production stands at 48,00,000 tonnes. The department also seeks to produce 14,73,090 tonnes of jute, 14,68,800 tonnes of vegetables and 16,02,660 tonnes of sugarcane this year.
The overall flood situation in Assam marginally improved on Wednesday. The water levels of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries continue its receding trend. According to information, the water level in some of the rivers in the 27 affected districts was receding and maintaining a steady trend in some others. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and two central teams today reviewed the prevailing flood situation. Gogoi reviewed the situation with Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka, Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi, Additional Chief Secretary P P Verma and senior officials of the health, irrigation, revenue, finance and forest departments. Two central teams have also arrived in the state to assess...
Lawyers in Golaghat have joined the two-day nation-wide strike beginning from today, called by Bar Council of India (BCI) against the government's Higher Education and Research (HER) Bill aimed at usurping its control over the legal education. Members of Golaghat Bar Association staged a sit in demonstration in Bar premise against the draft of Higher Education and Research Bill 2011 which excludes legal education from the purview of the Bar Council of India. The Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex body representing 1.7 million lawyers in India is opposing certain provisions of the Draft Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 and other connected bills which may have an adverse effect on...
In a huge achievement, the Sivasagar police captured a dreaded criminal on Tuesday who is allegedly involved in a number of heinous crimes. Identified as Ananta Khanikar, the notorious car lifted was apprehended by Amguri police in Nagaland on Tuesday. A number of cases are pending against him in several police stations. He was also allegedly involve in the sensational Hemanta Baruah murder case three years ago in Amguri. After marathon police interrogation, he would be produced before the court on Wednesday.