Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Republic Day

26 Jan. is Republic Day here in India. It is the day honoring the adoption of India's modern constitution (not to be confused with Independence Day, which is celebrated here in August). Today marks the start of India's 60th anniversary as a Republic.
For the Sayer family, Republic Day was all about the beauty of silence. Silence is something there is very little of here. There are generally people everywhere you go - even in public parks and gardens. A friend told us if you bring a blanket and a picnic lunch to a relatively emtpy green space, your solitude may only last a short while. The next group to come will undoubtedly plant their blanket right next to yours. The field is wide open, but there they go, setting up 5 feet away from your family picnic. This is meant to be polite. Establishing distance might be considered rude. While we may cherish some quiet solitude at times, it seems to be more comfortable for Indians to be very near one another - in the center of the action!
Back to the silence of Republic Day... Everything was shut down on this day. There was no construction, very little dust and traffic. Everyone was inside watching the 3 hour Parade & military review on television. No horns were tooting in the background. No cranes or excavation or hammering. The thick January-morning fog just enhanced the peacefulness of the day.
Adding to the silence was the fact that both Audrey and Evan have been sick these past few days. Congestion, fever, long naps and not much sibling rivalry. In general - Silence.
We are planning a trip to our pediatrician just to make sure the children fully recover and are ok. So don't worry, we should be back to our normal noisy life by the end of 27 Jan.

2 comments:

thenguyens said...

Enjoy the Silence. But hopefully the din of sibling rivalry will come back soon.

Zachary & Elias said...

That's such a weird thing...setting up their blanket right next to you...not wanting to seem rude. Jonathan, please send me your email address. Thanks...Brian