Commemorating India's 60th Independence Day

With India's 60th Independence Day looming, I thought I would use some of my valuable time to come with a suitable idea for commemorating India's independence. I decided to peruse the pics from my recent survey trips abroad for inspiration for a statue that symbolizes India's nationhood.

The first statue I considered was the Golden Dolphin at Nagoya Castle, which looks very little like a Dolphin thanks to its lovely scales. I prefer to think of it as a Giant Gold Dragon Fish Thing. But while it probably would taste delicious in a curry, I couldn't think of how to connect it to India. Maybe like India, it is different things to different people and couldn't be classified as easily as Reptile, Mammal or Fish. Nevermind! That was a bit of a stretch even for someone as adept as me at putting a spin on things.

Ha, I know we could use one of the many statues I saw on my trip to Bangkok. Like the one with the gold kinnari (a mythical half bird half woman) that stands guard in the grounds of Wat Phra Kraew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). There the India connection is more apparent as the kinnari is supposed to have originated from Indian mythology. Kinnaras (the male and consequently less interesting form) and kinnaris were mystical creatures that lived at the base of Mount Meru, the centre of the universe. Which is certainly appropriate considering that India is getting set to take her rightful place at centre of the universe. Okay, I can't even write that with a straight face, let alone try and get you readers to buy it.

I know! Let's Indianise the Victoria Memorial outside the Buckingham palace. We have already established a trend by modifying other institutions named after her like Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) and Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (now Veermata Jijabai Technical Insitute). Why should the Victoria Memorial be an exception! I now present you with Before and After pictures of the erstwhile Victoria Memorial.
Should we let the small matter that the Victoria Memorial is in London stop us? What better way to show that we have shed our colonial hangover than by converting one of Britain's symbols of power into an symbol that so aptly represents India. Yes, the figure perched precariously on top is me in (not yet patinated) bronze and brass but I am but a symbol of Indian bureaucracy.

I am sure you will all agree that this is a suitable Thank You to the British for instituting the Indian bureaucratic machinery that so efficiently serves India well into the 21st century.