“This year, India is our Valentine.”
That’s the call that resonated on 14 February, as dozens of artists commenced a weekend of celebrating the idea of an inclusive India, through the ‘India My Valentine’ initiative.
From the sit-in protest site at Delhi’s Nizamuddin to the Shaheen Bagh-esque protest in Mumbra, 30 kilometres from Mumbai, here are the sights and sounds from the opening night of an event that ‘cherishes our democracy.’
In Mumbra, An Evening to Remember
Mumbra, in Maharashtra’s Thane district, was the first sit-in protest against CAA-NRC-NPR to have sprung up in or around Mumbai. It was fitting then that the multi-city ‘India My Valentine’ initiative chose Mumbra as one of its venues on the opening night.
Enthralling the Mumbra audience, lyricist Swanand Kirkire sang ‘Bande mein tha dum’, a tribute song to Mahatma Gandhi which featured in the Bollywood superhit ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’.
From a poetry recital by Bollywood lyricist Raj Shekhar to performances by bands such as Yugm and Yalgaar, from Hindustani vocals by Ananya Gaur, and a Dastangoi act as well, Mumbra was in for a treat.
And the artists loved performing there as well. Every single artist marvelled at how responsive the crowd was. From singing along to waving their phone flashlights, or watching the dastangoi with rapt attention (so much so that even the performer took a moment to appreciate it in the middle of his act), the audience was everything the artists could have asked for.
‘A Celebration of the India We Love’
"Here's a celebration, mind you not a protest, of the idea of India that we all love," said actor Swara Bhasker at JNU.
Swara was among the small band of organisers who brought together artists, poets, musicians and stand-up comics for a weekend that celebrates the idea of an inclusive India.
Although ‘India My Valentine’ events are being held across multiple cities, one of the venues in the national capital was Jawaharlal Nehru University, where students and professors had been assaulted by masked goons on 5 January, many of whom are yet to be arrested, more than a month later.
The artists and students who attended the event were there to ‘celebrate the values enshrined in our Constitution through monologues and music, art and literature.’
A Minute’s Silence in Memory of the Victims of the Pulwama Attack
At the ‘India My Valentine’ events held in JNU and Mumbra, the artists and their audience also observed a minute of silence to commemorate the victims of the Pulwama tragedy, that had occurred exactly a year ago, on 14 February.
Addressing those gathered in Mumbra, activist Fahad Ahmad said, “Let us remember the victims of the Pulwama tragedy by observing a few moments of silence.”
At the end of it, he reminded the audience, “We have utmost respect for the armed forces, and for the families of those who lost their lives. We will also question the government on what the status of the probe is, and why they don’t have the answers even a year later.”
At 10 pm, the event in Mumbra came to a close with a rendition of the national anthem.
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