on doordarshan which now has a sense of nostalgia for me, as it does for mukul (see here).. in the morning me and mom sit and watch the republic day parade. a pageant of all things 'indian' and in that sense the nation in its parts parading down rajpath - not janpath.
i must say i absolutely loved the railway department's float with its miniature chattrapati shivaji terminus- with half a train stuck into it with real life size commuters reading books and leaning out of the doors. the one behind it was this strange monstrosity of hands reaching up to touch voting machines forming a flower of sorts- like a horror movie.
i was imagining who the guy was, in which pale yellow colored room, behind which thick dusty wooden desk amidst rows of files, every year dreaming up these creations. there must be a sub department with its own peon somewhere in the bureaucracy called the 'department of republic day parade floats'; perhaps a sub-set of the 'department of public relations' or is it the 'propoganda department' . what if i was that man?
would i go on tours of the country to take photographs of the cst, live in a railway guest house for three days in mumbai. what would i wear?
its amazing how these hulking large dinosaurs present themselves as cute cuddly little bunnies in the parade. cho chweet. perhaps it has something to do with my age that i find them, dare i say it, 'cuddly'. frightening thought. collecting soviet propoganda posters as 'kitsch'.
maybe it is the distance that i somehow have from them that makes me imagine that i am immune to their far more disturbing aspects. there is nostalgia there. distance. almost anything can seem to become acceptable and even adorable if it is not experienced anymore.
ps- i wonder just how politically incorrect would we think it is if we saw blonde men and women do a red indian tribal dance in full costume on the washington dc mall to celebrate american independence.
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