Republic Day in India

Martin has caught it again, he lays in bed with fever. And so we can't start our trip to Coorg as planned. Well, so I can enjoy the first Republic Day in India in our Windmills Community.

The constitution comes into force in 1950, although India has been independent since 1947. For the celebration, at 9 o'clock the flag is to be hoisted. We stand for it on the large lawn in our community. The security personnel stand at attention in line. At 9:10 a.m. we salute, then solemnly unfurl the flag and sing the national anthem.

Afterwards Heman gives a speech, he was nominated for it by the community. In his speech he describes why the constitution is so important for India. It should not be an exclusively legal document, but instead move society forward.

A few traditional songs are sung, we received the lyrics in advance via WhatsApp and the audience is invited to sing along.
This is followed by the speech of two girls who ask what actually makes a real Indian. The tradition, the clothes, the regular praying, or not rather kindness, goodness and prudence.

Although I came without Martin, I am rarely alone. First I meet Vanita, our neighbor, and then I strike up a conversation with many others. An elderly lady beckons me to join her and together we get a coffee. We talk about the day, the celebration and my first impressions of Windmills and India.
Afterwards, we want to get breakfast. The line is long and her legs are already tired - so she decides to just press our food stamps into the hand of a waiting woman and ask her to bring us something.

Then we go to the seniors' table. All the people in this group have experienced the enactment of the Constitution. We talk about this and that. One of the seniors has studied in Bonn and tells me how much she loves Reibekuchen since then. I feel quite comfortable at the table.

Soon the food arrives. For breakfast we have bread with raw onion and chickpea curry. It is not very spicy and tastes excellent to me. The bread is puffed up like a blowfish, but hollow inside, full of air. Still, it's doughy. Simply delicious!

I spend the rest of the day on the balcony, with smaller purchases and in the evening then still in the spa. Meanwhile, Martin is recovering, his fever has also dropped in the meantime.

Vanita is so sweet and even brings a spinach soup for him. This tastes not only him excellent 😉. So he can continue to recover and we decide to leave on Friday in the direction of Coorg.

After Republic Day, we travel to the rural area of Coorg. There we spend a few relaxing days enjoying the fresh air and good food. You can read about what else we experience here: Off to the countryside.