Manays in the Quit India Movement

The Quit India Movement was launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th-9th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in India. This August is the 79th anniversary.

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1992 was a special year in that it marked the 50th anniversary of the Quit India Movement. There were big celebrations planned all over the country, Bangalore included. It was but natural for the media, to search out people who saw 1942, and were still alive.

Don’t miss the YouTube video at the bottom of this post!

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The Manay family residence in Bangalore had a close association with the Quit India Movement. Scindia House, at Sajjan Rao Circle, Vishweshwara puram, Bangalore, was the place where other freedom fighters of the city met and took shelter. My dad used to say that unknown people would be walking in and out of their house, through the day.

Procession in Bangalore during the Quit India Movement (Pic: Dore Chakravarty, Wiki Commons)

Our ongoing Tryst with Destiny

Flag hoisted at our apartment in Mumbai today

On 14-15 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke at the Constituent Assembly in New Delhi.

Pigeon set free

We have hundreds of pigeons roosting all over in our building. With innumerable pipe ducts and vents, they have many spaces where they can live quite comfortably. This despite the netting that was installed many years ago, to keep them away.

While well-installed netting effectively keeps the birds out, netting that has lifted or given way allows them to enter, and sometimes they can’t find their way out. As bad as getting inadvertently caged, is a bird getting entangled in the net and not being able to free itself.

This is exactly what happened this morning. While his friends were moving in and out of the duct, this poor fellow drew our attention as he was flapping vigorously to release himself. Little did he realise that the more he flapped, the more trapped he became. It was nice to see the empathy of the other birds who, it seemed, were looking for ways to get him free.

Entangled in the netting

Independence Day thoughts

The sight of the tricolour as Jana Gana Mana plays, no matter what the backdrop, still brings a lump in the throat. As we complete 68 years of freedom from the British, there are many things our generation, the second generation that has grown up in free India, needs to be grateful for. Each of us can build that list, and to it we can add what we need to do to make India a comfortable and clean country for the next generations to live in.

The wind in our flag at Whispering Palms, Kandivali, Mumbai