They are also national symbols of joy or solidarity
There was a time when elections to Parliament and State assemblies used to be held together. Hence the election season used to come once in five years and the whole country was in an election mood. Gradually for various reasons, one State assembly or another got dissolved and for that State a mid-term election became necessary. With the states reorganisation becoming an oft practised intervention, some assemblies had to be reconstituted into more than one.
The results were simple. The election season was no longer a five-yearly affair. Ever so often, an election had to be called in some state. There have been instances where for one reason or another, the Lok Sabha term got curtailed and fresh elections to the Lok Sabha became a necessity. As a consequence, therefore the frequency of elections increased and the Election Commission had to be almost continually at work.
The constancy of the election season created its own syndrome. Occasionally there has been talk of restoring the election schedule to its old cadence. The consensus on this is still to emerge.
One thing which, however, comes out from all this is that change is the order in anything alive.
This applies to rituals also. Rituals include say, the Republic Day-related celebrations and the symbolic events which accompany it. They are also national symbols of joy or solidarity. The canopy which stands today at Rajpath, New Delhi sans the Statue of the British Emperor, which was installed there to begin with, would be an example. Examples such as this have their contradictions. Many agreed that the Statue needed to be removed from the canopy in free India and so it was. There were some suggestions on whose statue should be installed there instead. Now finally the Government has decided that the statue of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose will be installed there. However, the major landmark in Kolkata continues to be the Victoria Memorial. With its exquisite marble and architecture, it is an eyeful. No one seems to particularly bother that it is a relic of a colonial past where enslavement was celebrated with grand monuments. Such are the contradictions of life!
To get back to the Republic Day story, not many recall that the initial Republic Day celebrations were in what is now the Dhyanchand Stadium. Gradually, Republic Day Parade became a display of India's cultural richness and military preparedness, so the Rajpath was chosen. No one particularly bothered about the India Gate relic, perhaps because it was such a grand landmark. Not many noticed that literally thousands upon thousands of Indian soldiers who lost their lives in World War I did so, under orders, essentially in defence of an imperial power under whose yoke Indian was groaning. That too is another story.
In a strange fusion of history, the relic of imperial wars got fused with celebration of the 1971 event and an Amar Jawan Jyoti was installed near Indian Gate in memory of 'The unknown soldier'. The then Prime Minister 'stole' as it were, the Republic Day opening focus, from the Head of the State by beginning the celebrations by a drive to the Amar Jawan Jyoti.
In the meanwhile, the political climate changed and many latent urges which had been quasi-dormant came to life. A National War Memorial was built near India Gate and the Amar Jawan Jyoti was merged with the National War Memorial. There followed the announcement of dropping of the hymn 'Abide with me' from the Beating of the Retreat ceremony of January 29th. A natural expression of Indian identity with 'Indianness' at its core needs, to be accepted with joy and satisfaction.
(The writer is an acclaimed management consultant. The views expressed are personal.)