India is celebrating its 75th Independence Day on August 15, 2021. Not just commoners, even TV and Bollywood stars are drenched in the patriotic spirit. SpotBoyE.com got in touch with a few celebrities to know what patriotism means to them, what their fondest memory of the day is, and if they feel the essence of the day is fading away.
Amar Upadhyay, aka Virendra Pratap Singh from Molkki, remembers, "As a kid, I remember we were called to school for flag hoisting and we used to prepare Independence day speech and go on stage and deliver that. Also we use to hoist flags in our society; eat and play in society and have complete fun. Independence day is celebrated in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for our country. And due to their selfless sacrifice, we are living in a free country. It's a way to pay tribute to our freedom fighters. We celebrate Independence Day to keep the love for our country alive. It is a day we feel love and patriotism for India. And where I live in Mumbai we celebrate Republic day and independence day with complete enthusiasm for the last 15 years as we play Desh bhakti songs for a couple of hours in the morning and all the society members (elders and kids) get together for flag hoisting and sing our beautiful National Anthem and eat some snacks over chit chat- it's total fun. So, I don't think the essence of Independence day is anywhere fading. In fact, it's increasing."
Sumbul Touqeer, who plays the title role of Imlie in her show, shares, "When I was in the ninth grade, and I along with about nine friends of mine, we did this beautiful dance that I had choreographed. It was a song was Vande Mataram from the film, ABCD 2. The choreography was super creative and fun with human pyramids and so much more. I had put together everything from the choreography and the outfits, and I was only fourteen. So, that was a big responsibility I had, and that’ll always be memorable.
"I don’t think that the importance of independence day has faded away. I think a lot of people also judge a person by whether they are posting anything on social media on independence day or not. But the respect for one’s country isn’t on social media; it’s in one’s heart. When someone wins medals in international contests or the Olympics, we all feel elated and proud as the citizens of India. So, I believe, respect for the country is always there in everyone’s hearts."
Mayuri Deshmukh, who essays the character of Malinin in the TV show Imlie, says, "The best independence day memory would definitely be from my school when we would hoist a flag, and even paint flags that the teachers would either glue to the boards in the classroom or outside the classroom door. Sometimes we had even had the entire blackboard painted with tricolors, which was super cool! These are some of the beautiful memories I have of Independence Day from school.
"I am not sure if the importance of Independence Day has faded away, but I do feel that we have taken a lot of things for granted because the world has become smaller due to globalization and digitalization. So, missing your motherland, or country doesn’t happen much anyway, because everyone’s just a video call away. So, I am not sure if we really have lost the importance, but we definitely don’t yearn for it as much because it's available to us."
Sunayana Fozdar, aka Anjali of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, also remembers her school time. She says, "As a child in school, I remember we would be in school for our flag hoisting ceremony. I loved the memory of us performing patriotic songs. It was such an event. As a child in school, I remember we would be in school for our flag hoisting ceremony, I loved the memory of performing patriotic songs. It was such an event!
Also, I feel an immense amount of pride in the fact that this time around, we brought home seven medals; the Gold, Silver, and Bronze proving again that it does not matter where you come from, hard work and perseverance is the most important. Our athletes definitely set an example for generations to come. As we celebrate our 75th Independence Day this year, there is definitely a sense of pride and gratitude for all our soldiers who have sacrificed their lives and still continue to do so. I’m indebted to them and our leaders forever."
Shruti Sharma says, "My best Independence day memory will be when I was in my first school. We used to celebrate it like a festival. We used to perform on every occasion of Independence Day. There would be an assembly after the National Anthem and at the end of the assembly, motichoor laddoos were distributed. Motichoor is my favorite and I think this is when I developed my liking towards it. Those days were really great; going to school wearing uniforms and celebrating Independence Day. Those were the best moments and best days of my life because there was innocence, there was another level of energy in us! Patriotic songs were played in our school from the morning- all through the day. We would hear these patriotic songs from our home because our school was close to our home. On this day, we’d get ready earlier than usual because we knew that there was a celebration, and no teacher would teach us on this day. School days were the best memory of Independence Day.
"I think the importance and essence of independence will never fade because everybody knows that Independence day is a very important day in our lives. We all are busy in our lives but this day reminds us about patriotism. Patriotism will never fade from our minds; we all love our nation. We can't express our feelings daily but somewhere deep inside us, there is love for patriotism and it can never fade away."
Image source: Instagram/amarupadhyay_official/sumbul_touqeer/shrutiisharmaa/sunayanaf/mayurideshmukhofficialll