8/15/2012

Independence Day (India)

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Independence Day in India, August 15, 1947

***** Location: India
***** Season: Monsoon
***** Category: Observance


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Explanation

August 15th – 1947

A day to be remembered by all Indians.

But for my family – my parents got married on 22nd August 1947, a week after India regained her independence and my mother will always say that the whole country was lit and celebrating her wedding!
My father’s famous quote – " a week after India got her Independence, I lost mine to this girl ! "

When Mahatma Gandhi, whose role in India and her freedom struggle is well known, was shot on 30th January 1948 . . . India mourned. My mother talks about the people all over India being glued to their radios – shell shocked.

My mother wept for the first time after her marriage – she said.

India’s Independence Day is August 15th

But what I want to say is that on 14th of August one suddenly remembers our Independence Day ...
And you look around and find that people have scant respect for all those who fought for our freedom . . . or for the things that they held so dear . . .

And that is the reason I put 14th august in the haiku below . . .

Kala Ramesh

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With the decision by Britain to withdraw from the Indian subcontinent, the Congress Party and Muslim League agreed in June 1947 to a partition of India along religious lines. Under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act, India and Pakistan were established as independent dominions with predominantly Hindu areas allocated to India and predominantly Muslim areas to Pakistan.



After India's independence on August 15, 1947, India received most of the subcontinent's 562 widely scattered polities, or princely states, as well as the majority of the British provinces, and parts of three of the remaining provinces. Muslim Pakistan received the remainder. Pakistan consisted of a western wing, with the approximate boundaries of modern Pakistan, and an eastern wing, with the boundaries of present-day Bangladesh.

Read more about it here:
http://festivals.tajonline.com/independence-day.php


Independence Day Gifts
Kaju Pista Roll, Fresh Flowers
http://tajonline.tolshop.com/gifts-to-india/gifts-IS11_festivalpage.html

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Worldwide use

Independence Day as a worldwide kigo.

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Things found on the way


Partition Day - The Day India Burned

. . . the effects of Britain’s withdrawal from India in 1947 which triggered one of the biggest migrations in history. 15 million were displaced and more than a million lost their lives.

- Reference -



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HAIKU


14th august . . .
people still wear khadi
. . . a few

14th august . . .
sudden gust of wind spins

the spinning wheel

today's youth
without having to fight -
have freedom


Kala Ramesh

Read here about Khadi , a homespun cotton fabric introduced by Mahatma Gandhi.

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Independence Day -
the poster of Gandhi
rather faded

Gabi Greve, 1980
http://worldkigo2005.blogspot.com/2005/09/independence-day.html

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a child
by the window waves
the tricolour


--R.K.Singh
August 2010


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66th Independence Day
striking me hard the song
'jinhe naaz hai hind par ...'


- Shared by Charan Gill -
The Tea Room FB, August 2012


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freedom day-
through the glass door
a bird seeks out


- Shared by Amrao Gill -
Joys Of Japan, August 2012



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- - - - - 2013 - - - - -

fifteenth August-
the refugees of yesteryear
salute the tricolor


Angelee Deodhar



fifteenth August
a naked boy sells flags
on the pavement


Arvinder Kaur




Independence Day . . .
the cry of a migrant widow
pierces the sky

Independence moon . . .
all the weathered flowers
beyond the fence


Sandip Chauhan




celebration of independence --
a bird flies into
the blue


Kumarendra Mallick




15th August--
the wounded doves
across the fence


Pravat Kumar Padhy


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Related words

***** Independence Day (worldwide)

***** Khadi homespun cotton



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3 comments:

Gabi Greve said...

KHADI

Gandhi promoted Khadi for self sustainability. He wasn't trying to generate employment for the country and neither was he out to create a market about "help the poor" charity. His whole premise was that everyone, rich or poor or in between, should have access to food, shelter and clothing in a self-reliant way. That is, they shouldn't create dependencies on cities, government or economies, lest they get corrupt.

Read more here:

http://nipun.charityfocus.org/blog/ar/pilgrimvedchi/000663.html

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Gabi Greve said...

Khadi - The Fabric of Freedom and Fashion

The first true Indian designer was Mahatma Gandhi when he urged the people of India to wear khadi garments. It was not only a call to create self reliance but a call to create self reliance but a call to wear something that could prove the unity of India. Khadi was given a more important status by Gandhi after his return from South Africa. While in search of the charkha Gandhi felt that for a nation to turn self-reliant, it had to return to indigenous manufactured goods.

Gandhi wrote. Swaraj (self-rule) without swadeshi (country made goods) is a lifeless corpse and if Swadeshi is the soul of Swaraj, khadi is the essence of swedeshi. Therefore khadi became not only a symbol of revolution and resistance but part of an Indian identity.

Gandhi confessed though, When I first discovered the spinning wheel it was purely through intuition. It was not backed by knowledge so much so that I confused charkha with kargha (handloom).

These two forms of fabrics have always confused people. While khadi is hand made, handloom yarn is processed at the mills.

Read more here:
http://www.indiaprofile.com/fashion/khadi.htm

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By the way, I still have my KHADI pants, vest and shirt from India and wear it with great pleasure. The natural colors are very pleasing.

Gabi

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Gabi Greve said...

KHADI, great link with Photos

The Khadi (Handspun Cotton) Culture


The handspun cotton, known as Khadi is of special significance to Indians. Gandhi elevated the fragile thread of cotton to as a symbol of strength, and self-sufficiency and to employment for the millions during India's freedom struggle, and that symbolism of wearing cloth made by human hands has continued till this day.

Look at the photos here:
http://www.kamat.com/indica/culture/eco-friendly/khadi.htm

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