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The Republic Day Speech

जननी जन्म भूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी
Our motherland is more precious than the Heaven.

How true these beautiful words are. Giving the most sacred place of all to the motherland, the place of our birth, keeping it even above than the deities. These words carry with them the emotions and sentiments of countless Indian soldiers currently standing guard against the enemy frontiers, protecting this Incredible nation of ours. The lines simultaneously echo the pride and honour of 1.324 Billion people across the world who identify their nationality as Indian. And today, we are all gathered here to celebrate the auspicious occasion of the 69th Republic Day of this Motherland.

India as a Nation and moreover as a Republic, the nation of the People, has come a long way since the days of post-independence immaturity after the partition. In the ensuing 68 years that we have had a privilege of having a written constitution, the longest one in the world, for that matter, we have made substantial and noteworthy progress in the direction of complete self-reliance and indigenous manufacturing of products. Especially, our growth in the agricultural sector to become a self-sustainable economy, is most laudable. From a struggling young economy in 1960s we have today risen to a position where we can declare ourselves a Superpower not only in Science & Technology but also as the global leader of cross-country diplomacy. More recently, the numerous achievements of ISRO in space research, weather forecasting etc. have reiterated our capacity to work towards scientific advancements.

Amidst all the diversity that India has with its 29 states, 22 Languages, 1652 Mother-tongues and more than 2000 ethnic groups, it is just fascinating to see the unity in India. In fact, only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic, genetic & cultural diversity of India. Certainly, there are some tiny disturbances in this equilibrium every now and then, but such occurrences are so rare or are representative of so small a fraction of the population that they can very well be disregarded.

Present day India is a picture in Contrast. Where we have such successes that we boost of, there still remain a vast majority of unsolved problems prevalent in the society. However, with India having more than 65% of its population below the age of 35, the tides do seem to be in our favour. Imagine what this young power is capable of, if given the right opportunities at the right time. Indeed, the possibilities are immense.
Surely, the India our founding fathers dreamed about is not up yonder. We need to go much farther away. But there is something in the Indian skies, as Max Muller aptly remarks when he says –

“If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life and has found solutions, I should point to India.”


Thank You. Jai Hind. Jai Bharat.



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