Dated : 2nd october, every year

Dated : 2nd October, Every year

Sticking to the ordained schedule, 2nd October arrived in the year 2008 as well, to mark the event of Gandhi Jayanti. Historical records say that Lal Bahadur Shastri was also incidently born on the same day. The moral of the story being, two great individuals were born on this particular day…and here we are, celebrating “DRY DAY” in their honour.
Being a public holiday, I decided to venture out with a couple of friends to do a typical girlie chore : SHOPPING. When 5 girls meet, the expected number of giggles are conveniently outnumbered and the blabbing continues incessantly. As we treaded along M.G. Road, I realized that the number of hoardings paying obeisance to the great Mahatma had drastically reduced. This year too, the banner sponsored by N*P was larger that that of the BJ*. The shopping happened in spurts and we drove back to a friend’s home via L.B.S. Marg.
The christening of the roads in Mumbai has been done very thoughtfully. The means devised to remember these noble countrymen are praise-worthy. ..( Gandhi market and Hindmata are also to be included. ).
The holiday served no purpose. There was hue and cry over the newly imposed ban of smoking in public places. The government could not find a day more auspicious than this to introduce this legal interference in people’s habit. It was painful to see a ten-year old pick-pocketing, standing on the footpath, right under the signboard bearing the initials L.B.S. Marg. It was equally disgusting to see over-zealous lovers scribble their names ( the names outlined by a distorted ugly heart etched in vermilion red )on the pillar upholding the bust of the Mahatma. The television channels that day showed just one movie – GANDHI. That marked the end of patriotism for the day. The slump in the patriotic fervour was vividly conspicuous. Perhaps, the spacing between 15th August and 2nd October needs to be changed. Almost 7 months after Republic Day ( i.e. 26th January, to be precise ), the mercury of jingoism rises to high levels on August 15th. The levels exponentially crash in the next two months.. and “DRY DAY” is all that is left to be observed by us.
It is pitiable that the brave and courageous memories have eventually faded and 2nd October is just another day..oops!! a HOLIDAY..