Difficult to say where the demonstrations in favour of Anna Hazare are going, but it’s incredible to see large sections of the (young) population mobilized to the extent that it is. There are spontaneous demonstrations up and down the streets and at the railway stations. 

There’s valid concern that whatever bill is created is created through the parliamentary system, flaws, warts and all.

Saw a short documentary on Anna Hazare yesterday. Quite incredible what he has accomplished in his life in terms of helping farmers to re-irrigate their land etc.

Last year on Independence Day Mira and I traipsed out toMantraleya, the Government of Maharashtra’s Secretariat at 09.00 in the morning, were kept at a distance by a bunch of overweight and edgy policemen and watched someone, presumably the Governor, unfurl the Indian flag and zip off again. Honestly speaking, the experience didn’t do very much for us.


A year on and the day starts very similarly, whether you like it or not, as Kumud pointed out. Forty years ago, with the nation smarting from the defeat at the hands of the Chinese, Lata Mangeshkar sang Mere Watan Ke Logon, and brought tears to Pandit Nehru’s eyes. But that was forty years ago, do we need to relive those tears year after year after year? Apparently, we do, at least that’s what the Government seems to think.


Thankfully, after surviving Mere Watan Ke Logon at 08.00 a.m., you notice that Independence Day really does mean something to the common man. You notice it in the celebrations, the wishes, the poems and songs people compose, the tri - coloured kites flown in Old Delhi, etc.


So in the spirit of lists, here’s what is most likable about living in India right now:

1. Energy. Not the kind that lights up streets, it’s in short supply actually, but the kind that people have.
   
   
2. Food. What you want, when you want it, delivered to your doorstep (we’ll talk about the people who can’t quite afford that kind of service some other time).
   
   
3. Businesses on a role. Indian businesses are not just serving their domestic customers, they’re acquiring and integrating businesses globally, and it’s a thrill to witness it.
   
   
4. The openness and inclusiveness. You can say what you want, and people do, and you can be what you want. Where else do transvestites and hindu priests and muslim imams and kids in designer clothes criss cross the same streets, and not give each other another glance or for a moment doubt that the other too is an Indian? 
   In this India is not dissimilar to the U.S. Take a look at the article in today’s NYT / IHT on how different Europe is in that regard.
5. Last but not least, the unintended humour, loads of it, such as newspapers offering fertility advice to its readers. “Men, keep your laptops off your laps, the heat is not good for you.” Really?? With 1.2 billion people we need fertility advice.

Happy Independence Day...