Color My Independence Day Please!

14 August 1947, Midnight:

"...Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny,

and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge,

not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps,

India will awake to life and freedom..."

Gives me goosebumps every time I read it! I bet it’s the case with you too!

Now picture those moments when Jawaharlal Nehru must have said this…

Millions and millions of people cheering and shouting slogans of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. The patriotic fever running high, the nationalistic sentiments too deep, the passion so exhilarating… The entire nation crying and rejoicing as one… A moment long awaited, a dream long cherished was now turning into a reality… A child was about to be born. It was time for “The Real India” to emerge!!!

FREEDOM – draped in the colors of joy, of spirit, of unity, of patriotism, of cheer – was a word that was actually felt and seen that day!

Now tell me, honestly… In what colors did this picture come to your mind?

This is what I got…Black and white stills. Well, I have been fortunate to open my eyes in a free India and hence I am left with my imaginations only. And imaginations are shaped by how we see it since childhood in movies, books, videos, newspapers and television. But why Black and white, I ask? I agree some things look best in Black and White too but THIS DAY...? The day when we stepped out of darkness to a new era of light, the day we actually understood the meaning of the word freedom, OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY... Just think about it… How can it ever be Black and White?!

(Video Courtesy : You Tube)

Thus, if ever I would want to take a flight in color, I would want all our freedom videos and pictures to appear in color. If not anything else, then I would atleast want my Flag – The Tiranga, the Tricolor – a song of bravery and freedom, a messenger of peace and harmony – painted in its very own symbolic colors of saffron, blue and green; in not only this video you saw above but wherever and everywhere possible so that the generations to come do not have to imagine it the way I have done. After all, our National Flag is our pride and it is just so inconceivable without its emblematic colors... isn't it?

This post is my entry to the 'Take flight with colour' on IndiBlogger sponsored by HP LaserJet. If you like my article then please do vote for me on Indiblogger here (no fake votes Please).

To Know more about HP LaserJet printers visit the link http://www.hp.com/in/laserjet

A Day in My Life - Without Colors

I woke up one day and rubbing my eyes tried to gauge the situation that I was faced with... Well I had lost all sense of color, I could only see things in "Black and White". I thought it was just a hallucination but slowly I began to realize the grave situation that surrounded me. Well the first problem I faced was, I could not identify my toothbrush, well I know it sounds weird but there are four members and naturally there are as many toothbrushes. Now each looked the same, black handle and white bristles!!! Somehow I overcame the situation, I will not go into how but it was not easy at all!!!

Then I took a bath and wanted to dress up but again all the shirts looked the same either Black or White... Flabbergasted I wore a white shirt and black trousers... This I realized was just the beginning of a long hard day that lay ahead of me... As I left for my office, I could not make out between cabs and private cars... After a couple of failed attempts at stopping some cars coupled with some disgusting looks, I hit jackpot and finally managed to hail a cab. I was beginning to get anxious by now but decided against disclosing this fact to anyone as they would think that I had gone nuts and would not believe me.

I was troubled many more times during my office hours as I had trouble recognizing different documents as different types of bills are distinguished by different colors... So I had to manually read and sort out the bills, what a pain!!

After lunch which was another troublesome task as I had difficulty identifying different things on my plate. So I decided to take rest of the day off and made my way to a nearby garden. But alas! Even the flowers seemed to have lost their charm, without colors, every flower looked the same... Some flowers even looked disgusting in jet black color!!! I then made my way to the sea-side, thank God the breeze doesn't have any color... The cool sea breeze relaxed me a bit but I knew that if this situation persisted, then I was going to be in deep trouble. I spent some time there watching the waves come and go, people enjoying themselves, eating ice gola (hell I could not make out the flavor)...

Soon it was time for the Sun to go home and I thought this would cheer me but it was the most disgusting sun-set I had ever seen... I just closed my eyes and thought that I had had enough. With moist eyes I prayed to God to relieve me of this unique situation. I realized how unfortunate people are those who cannot see, I sub consciously made up my mind to donate my eyes after death. But, Ah!!! I realized what use of eyes which I am myself not comfortable with!!

I closed my eyes and shut out everything from my system, just went blank... pretty much in sync with the day that I had just spent! Somebody was jerking me and there was a splash of water on my face, probably the waves had come far... I opened my eyes with a startle and found that my mother was frantically trying to wake me up!!! I struggled to come to terms with the situation at hand but was relieved that my vision was normal again... Colors had returned to my life again!!! I hugged my mother and immediately told Her that I would like to donate my eyes if something happened to me.... I would consider it the best gift that I could gift to anyone, if someone could see the colors of life with my eyes. I thanked God and hurriedly got ready for office. I realized the extreme importance that colors play in our lives, without them life becomes tedious and drab...

Colors play such an important role in our lives, a world without colors is like a life without a soul... Try out the all new range of HP printers and fill your life with colors.

This post is my entry to the 'Take flight with colour' on IndiBlogger sponsored by HP LaserJet. If you like my article then please do vote for me on Indiblogger here (no fake votes Please).

To Know more about HP LaserJet printers visit the link http://www.hp.com/in/laserjet

Real Beauty through the Eyes of a Little Girl

I, one day, thought "What Does Real Beauty Mean??"

As I wandered through my myriad thoughts, many things crossed my mind - The Sun, The Moon, The vast carpet of bright shining Stars, The dew drops on the grass, The gentle breeze blowing across your face, The snow capped peaks, The vast Rivers flowing endlessly, A beautiful Rainbow, A majestic Waterfall... A caring hand on your shoulder, A smiling face, A selfless act, Tears of joy...

I had not even touched the tip of the iceberg called Real Beauty... What can it be, I wondered - Real Beauty... Real, Pure Unadulterated Beauty??

My mind struggled but I am not the one to give up... I strained my mind and remembered a beautiful story which I had come across as a little child long long ago... Ah!! had I stumbled on the Real Beauty... The story went something like this - 

Once a little girl went to stay at her aunts place. The aunt was a great woman and her house was buzzing with little kids (her many relatives). She had brought many dolls for all the kids which she began to distribute among them (she called each kid forward and they chose one). When the turn of the little girl came, she moved forward, with anticipation and love filling her eyes. She, surprisingly, picked out a doll which was old, a bit torn and tattered, with only a single arm... She picked it up quickly and held it close to her. The other kids were surprised as was the aunt. But the girl seemed very very happy with her latest possession. The aunt asked her the reason for her choice and the little girl replied "Everyone was only picking up the most beautifully dressed, shiny and new dolls... No one even looked at this one, she (the doll) seemed so dejected to me. I picked her up, now she will not feel bad and I will take care of her. I am so so happy". A tear trickled down the aunts cheeks and she hugged the little girl tightly.

Yes, this is what I was looking for... The little girl definitely thought me the essence of Real Beauty... I soon slept blissfully finally knowing what Real Beauty means.

This post is my entry for the Yahoo Dove Real Beauty Contest held at Indiblogger. If you are on Indiblogger and really like this post then promote it (Please no fake votes) by clicking HERE. you can also like it on facebook on the same link.