So, after three years of listening to Manmohan Singh at Red
Fort on Aug 15, Narendra Modi's address was a welcome change. Following are
some of the highlights of the event:
Modi shows off his humorous side
In between the serious issues of developing infrastructure,
protecting the country’s women, falling sex ration, Modi did not forget to make
his audience laugh with some clever one liners and keen observations.
Reacting to news that government employees had started
coming on time to offices after the new regime at the centre, Modi quipped: “Is
this news? Is this the level that we have stooped to?” asked Modi as the
audience giggled.
Referring to his background as a tea-seller, his comment on
developing tourism so that everybody including chaiwalas (tea
sellers) could earn a good living had the audience in splits.
Similar was the reaction when he criticized people’s
attitude of not being bothered about things that didn’t affect them
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Perfect weather
Strong gusts of cool winds and cloudy skies resulted in the
perfect weather for those gathered at the Red Fort to hear Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech.
The sun remain hidden behind the clouds for a major part of
Modi’s speech while the cool breeze provided comfort to what could have been an
otherwise sultry day during the monsoon season.
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Sea of saffron, green and white
The Red Fort and the lawns around it were literally painted
in the tri colours of saffron, white and green with vivid flower arrangements,
garlands and numerous flags of all shapes and sizes.
Over a hundred flags were seen fluttering on poles around
the 17th century historic fort as well as the lawns in front of it while
garlands of flowers adorned the boundary walls of the ramparts of the fort.
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Charged up crowd
Right from the time Modi entered the venue till the time he
left, the crowd remained enthusiastic and constantly cheered and applauded the
63-year-old leader.
As soon as Modi’s cavalcade reached Red Fort, the atmosphere
turned electric. When he got down and waved to the cheering crowd, many of them
stood on their chair to get a glimpse of the leader.
When Modi joked, they laughed and when he talked about
improving the country’s infrastructure, they applauded.
All through his speech, the sounds of cheering, hooting,
clapping and whistling reverberated in the air.
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Practicing what Modi preached
It was good to see that some of the suggestions Modi gave in
his speech - particularly about keeping cities clean - was adhered to by the
school children.
The thousands of school children, who were given packed
lunches and snacks, used dustbins to dispose off the empty bottles, packets of
food and chips. Every year, they used to throw them on the ground.
This time, a huge dustbin was kept in one corner of the
ground where the children were savouring their refreshments while makeshift
dustbins in the form of empty cardboard boxes were also placed all over.
Modi reaches out to children
The hundreds of school students who cheered Narendra Modi
for over an hour at the Red Fort Friday were pleasantly surprised when the
prime minister met them before leaving the venue.
As soon as Modi's cavalcade of black BMWs reached the front
courtyard of the Red Fort, the excited children and even some of their teachers
cheered him, standing on their chairs for a glimpse of the prime minister.
On his way out, Modi made sure to reward his young admirers
by getting out of his sedan to meet them.
Modi shook hands and interacted with the children who were
dressed in saffron, green and white - the Indian tricolour - and blue for a few
minutes.
Such was the excitement that children and teachers from
other enclosures in the ground jumped barriers and climbed atop chairs and even
on each other's shoulders to get a closer look.
The Special Protection Group, which provides security to the
prime minister, and police had a tough time controlling the overjoyed children.
