BANGALORE: It was a bright day in Bangalore as close to 50 contingents took part in the annual Republic Day march past at Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Parade Grounds on Thursday. The celebrations included a flyby by a helicopter of the Air Force, which showered Rose Petals on the gathering as the Governor hoisted the National Flag.
The parade included contingents from the Army, Border Security Force, Railway Protection Force, Karnataka State Reserve Police and youth from the Bharath Scouts and Guides, Students Association for Road Safety and BBMP schools.
The parade was led by Major T N Singh of the Parachute Regiment, located in the city and the prize for the best contingent was bagged by the Home Guards Civil Defence team in 2nd category.
After the traditional march past, the crowd was in for a series of visual treats as Havaldar Narender Kumar, Nayak R A Khan and Lance Nayak Shankar S of the Parachute Regiment Training Centre, Bangalore displayed Paramotor skills when they swooped in from the sky and did a precision landing on the ground right in front of the podium.
The wind played spoilsport to their plans of landing together however, as one of the team was delayed in its landing by a sudden gust of wind which forced them to circle one more round before landing. The team has to their credit a world record of flying 3,300 km from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in the span of 60 days in 2005.
Cultural programmes this year included Janani Janma Bhoomi, a massive skit put together by 700 students of G H S schools from Police Colony, Agrahara Dasarahalli, Shivanagar and Hegganahalli. Another skit by 725 students of the NBN Vidya Mandira High School and Mother Land English High School brought out the beauty of the national anthem which was composed a hundred years back by Rabindranath Tagore. In a well timed performance, hundreds of students dressed in White, Green and Saffron came together to form a stunning visual treat on the parade ground in the heart of the city.
The best show for the day was reserved for the last however as a team of 33 daredevils from the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment Centre, Belgaum, who exhibited exemplary ‘Malkhamba’ skills by performing hard routines like the Pawan Chakki and ‘Kamal Ka Phool’ or Blooming Lotus. Yoga Asanas like the Kumrasana, Karajana and Mayurasana were exhibited with ease and poise by the teams of Raj Kumar, KK Patil and Dhane followed by the Hanuman Seedhi by Chavan and Suryavamshi which is an act of defiance against the rules of gravity.
“Our efforts have paid off as we won the first prize. We practised for 15 days continuously,” said Sushma GS, Meghana V and Kavya of Soundarya High School T Dasarahalli who presented ‘Navellaru Vande’, the prize winning cultural programme.