Independence Day ..2 years ago

15th August , Indian Independence Day is celebrated with great spirits of enhusiasm , and is no less than festival. For a little over 2 years ago, Aug15 to me was a synonym for kite flying , one of thousands reasons to celebrate and with the family. Had I known two years ago that the "Kite Flying Ceremony "would be probably my last for atleast next 2 years , I would have flown them for over 2 months. Here was my last Kite Flying and family regrouping ceremony , when all my brothers and sisters were together for masti time on the roof.
Apna PatangBaaz number Ek - Please Find below Mr Sachin , with red cap , and in angry mood. probably srikant had done something to irritate him ( and i really still wonder Sri did it delibratley or just to pull sachin's leg). As far as kite flying passion was concerned , sachin never compromised on anything , even if that meant for him to go to neighbour's top , or to that dangerous unfenced half root boundry over the room to do so, and i was a partner in crime , most of the time :) .

The Coolest brothers and possibly the only one Sachin ever feared. Nishant bhaiya (in green) and Prashant ( the other guy). This was the time when the air was too feeble and in wrong direction, but nish bhaiya knows how to get it going. And there was never an ego problem between the two , and they flew to kill ,and most important, with them , kite flying was most pleasurable thing around. Always full of fun , jokes and cracks ( and work for shushant :) or srikant) ..

Below is our masti gang ,(from left to right) Srikant, Neha , Bhavna and Shushant. These were the flavours . Srikant was assciated with most number of torn kites ( also the scolding) , and shushant ,ever ready to help u out when kite was mid way or down :). Neha used to bring us all food , cold drinks , and papdi chaat , though Bhavna used to be queen.


The below image shows through the dwindelling lights , the spirits still remain high , with national songs on a volume full , we flew till the kite was lost in the surrounding darkness. The sky i remember was so full of kites , that it was no longer blue, but alas , in Bangalore , the sky still is blue. Here i dont find children running after kites , climbing trees and poles to get the kite which had lost the battle. I remember those days when driving to the destination in car would entangle at least of couple of kites in the car.

And at the last moment , comes another hero. Someone other , as daring as we were was still waging a war against all others , and this time , we found a match. It was a clash of true warriors , a section of people who refused to lay , and kites went deep and deep in sky till the thread was potentially going to be over , but the battle continued. for sometime later , we understood the slack , and that the opponent had retired a long time ago , and when we rewinded the whole thread back , our heroic kite had another one to its bow.

And then came the kodak moment , nish bhaiya with his new latest samsung mobile phone with flash (a big thing at that time ) .

Last but not the least , apna sachin in action , and dare anyone come in between . That was the independence day i remember and cherish , and hope to celebrate many many more independence day in the same way.
And then there were some people whom named i missed , but were those who made this even special.
My naniji( mom's mom). She is one who always showered me with blessings , and each time i left , had my pockets heavy, At the onset of my memory which dates back to Sarojini Nagar , i used to get a Re 10/- note , with time became 50 ,and then 100. Last time it was 500 Re note. I love my naniji as all other people in the house. She is most favourite of us all ...
Then My mamaji's. all kites were ready beforehand. We were able to fly consistently and throughout the day cauz of them , and mamijis who would fuel the engines with finger licking yum yum food.
Then my mother and mausiji , who will always confirm ( and make us confess ) if we are tired , and ask sri , shushant more than what she asked me and sachin ti fly kites.
Next is pearl of us all , Swati didi. She is always there with fun , joy , masti and with her around , no boys play. she knows how to tackle us , tackle us all at one time. Think she was the one who will make us all quiet in one swift shout.
Have left out the best from the rest till the end.
she is anjali , one you have met already in my blogs ( see jan post for her marriage). She is one calm gal, use brains , not affected by anything other than her brother shushant , and she also is an expert in teaching lessons. A sweet sister , and papdi chat she makes ... and she is here in second last blur pic. She says to me that i shud come back to delhi , but i know God has better plans.... and all know it :)
Independence day has been more of a Day for me , in my life, a little more than memory. Independence day it seems was a season , which lasted 12 hours and each hour was a new life. A time when we played our hearts out , shouted like beasts , celebrated victories , conquered forts, lost battles , unison sobbing ... a feast , a drama , a family get together ... Something to truely celebrate the spirit of Freedom ...
and as said .. will look for it to be repeated , even as we all have had take our paths ,and life taken its toll , but there has been a single binder to bring us all together ... for now and forever .. and am pretty sure , its not very far when i wil repost this post with so many new characters while maintaining the old ones in more spirited forms ...

Added :

Anjali is missing from this entire stuff is a shame on writer. One of the not so enthusiasts but to live by the rule book , the cool headed and always agree to most of the things. My one of the most cherished sister, and sorry to have missed the name out earlier, glad you pointed it ....

Waiting for the day ,when this day in history will be repeated once more, again and then again.