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Due to Covid, outdoor celebrations are not an option, so here are 8 exciting ideas to celebrate Independence day at home.
Independence Day marks a moment of pride, glory, and celebration for all Indians. 15th August 2021, India’s 75th Independence Day, is around the corner to once again remind us of the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters in establishing a free and independent Indian nation.
In the pre-covid world, we all would have dressed up in our favorite ethnic clothes, attended the flag hoisting ceremony, and proudly watched the tricolour embrace the air. However, for the last one and a half years Coronavirus has made this an impossibility. So instead of brooding over the uncontrollable fate, lets celebrate the spirit of freedom with hope and positivity in the best way possible!
No Indian event/festival is complete without food and when it comes to Independence Day, traditional cuisine is a must. This 15th August, spend family time together in the kitchen preparing innovative tricolour dishes.
A tricolor sandwich bread pakora for breakfast, tricolor-pulao for lunch, dimsums for the evening and tricolour idli would be served best for dinner. For dessert, tri-color kulfi or a cheesecake are great choices. These are just some, there are numberless other options to explore on the internet.
Theme connect: You could divide the cooking tasks among the family members to make the activity more fun and interesting.
On 15 August 1947, at midnight, India became a free nation. Several lost their home, family, even life. A lot of bloodshed and violence went into the making of independent India. 75 years down the lane, what remains are their eternal memories and words of wisdom.
Spend this Independence Day with your family, listening to the patriotic speeches of our freedom fighters to understand the sacrifices, and dedication that went into the freedom struggle. This is a great way for kids to know more about the freedom struggle as well.
Tryst with Destiny by Jawaharlal Nehru, Quit India Speech by Mahatma Gandhi, Swaraj is my Birthright by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Give me blood and I will give you freedom by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are some of the must-listen speeches.
Theme connect: Plan the number of speeches you want to listen to beforehand, and after their completion, ask each of your family members what freedom means to them? I bet you would be surprised by the answers you will receive!
With thousands of people losing their lives due to the fatal Coronavirus, planting a tree as an emblem of peace and harmony would be an apt Independence day event.
Fix a time beforehand and persuade all your family members to participate in this tree plantation drive. Plant a tree of your choice in a pot or ground according to your comfort as a wish for the progress and peace of our country.
To make the activity more intriguing, you could paint the pots in tricolour to distinguish them from the other. You could even make this event larger by going online and persuading your friends and followers to do the same.
Theme connect: After the event sits together, breathe in the fresh air and be proud of the noble cause you contributed to.
When their spirits went low and dedication wavered, our freedom fighters found refuge in the moving poetry of timeless Indian poets. We have come a long way, but even today these words will not fail to bring tears to our eyes.
An online poetry recitation event would be a great tribute to these legendary poets. To celebrate the spirit of Independence, you could ask each attending the event to prepare and recite one poem. These could include Azadi Ka Geet by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna by Ram Prasad Bismil, Where the mind is without fear by Rabindra Nath Tagore, or any other patriotic poem.
Theme connect: After the recitation of each poem, you could ask why the person reciting it chose that particular poem and one thing that they found interesting about that poet.
In the reverence of Independence Day what we often forget is the Partition that came along with it. Partition accompanied a lot of bloodshed, rape, and violence. While we always remember the sacrifices of our freedom fighters, we forget the innocents that lost their lives in the division of the two nation-states, India and Pakistan.
Organizing a family event to read some excerpts from the books based on partition is a much-needed exercise to respect and remember the souls of those we lost during Partition. Each of your family members could decide on a book, journal, autobiography, or any other form of Partition literature and read out their favorite passage or quotes from it.
Reading Partition literature can be disturbing, but it is crucial to understand the seriousness and significance of the event we are celebrating. These books can include The Other Side Of Silence by Urvashi Butalia, Train To Pakistan by Khushwant Singh, The Great Partition by Yasmin Khan, or others.
Theme connect: After the reading exercise, you can ask each of your family members how this reading of partition literature changed or affected their meaning of Independence or freedom.
Do not let the Covid-19 restrictions stop you from enjoying this pious occasion of freedom. Home decor and a photoshoot planned with the help of all family members always work as the best remedy to wave away the dreary spirits.
Get creative and embellish your doors and walls with those bandanas and wall hangings locked in your cupboards. You could even make your decor with some old tri-color dupattas available at home.
Once the house is all set, it’s time to take out that gorgeous ethnic outfit lying in your almira for an Independence day photoshoot. Play some music, vibe to the spirit of freedom, and go, get your perfect shot.
Theme connect: Ask everyone to put in their creative inputs to make this activity engaging, fun, and a great success.
We all are familiar with the dumb charades based on movies, but what about dumb charades based on our freedom fighters for this Independence day?
You could divide your family members in two teams where one member of each team could volunteer and give the other team a name of a freedom fighter like Mangal Pandey, Bhagat Singh, or others, which they would have to mimic with the help of their famous slogans, fighting style or costume.
Decide upon the number of rounds you want to perform, monitor the progress of each team, and then declare the winner. The punishment for the losing team could be more cleaning and cooking work.
Theme connect: After the name of the freedom fighter is discerned, ask the members of the other team why they choose that particular name or a fun fact about that personality.
After a day packed with such events, anyone would crave to get cosy on the couch and watch a delightful movie with the family.
Plan an Independence day movie night. Take a poll on the movies everyone wants to watch and then go with the majority. These movies could include Rang de Basanti, Lagaan, Kesari Chak de India, or others. Ask everyone to keep their phones aside, prepare some popcorn, dim the lights and enjoy the spirit of patriotism.
Theme connect: After the movie ends, engage in a healthy discussion. Ask your family members if they feel truly ‘free’ in India and why? There are mysteries hidden in every person, even the closest to you, and this activity could reveal some of them to you.
There are several other ways in which freedom can be celebrated. The overall objective is to pay reverence to our country, to remember the progress that we have made, the lives that have been lost, and to pray for a healthy and happy future for India!
(Image source: Top left corner: Hum Saath Saath Hain movie still, Bottom left corner: Photo by Rohan Dalal from Pexels, cheesecake from recipe on NDTV, bottom right corner: Baghban movie still, top right corner: Unsplash)
Muskan is an undergraduate literature student, an avid reader and a writer. Her areas of interest include gender, sexuality and psychology. She feels strongly for the things around and does not shy away from voicing read more...
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