Thanks to this mum who gladly allowed me to take a shot of her two sons and herself 🙂
It has become an annual rendez-vous for me now. Each year, I make it a must to free myself in order to be able to attend the official flag raising ceremony for the Independence and republic day celebrations. Unlike the past years, this year’s celebration was held in Champs de Mars instead of the Anjalay Stadium to mark the 47th Independence anniversary and the 23rd Republic anniversary for Mauritius with the chief guest, the Prime Minister of India, Mr Modi.
If you followed me on Facebook, I had quite a busy day… After helping with the daily household chores and more importantly, looking after our son, I reached office mid-day to work for a few hours ( Ouf, the bug wasn’t mine! ). Unlike my colleagues who were off today, enjoying their public holiday, I was able to grab one of the colorful and delicious cupcakes offered by the company ( but unfortunately, as pointed out by Nad on Facebook, the flag is upside down) :
Direction -> Champs de Mars
At around 17hrs, I walked to Champs de Mars but however, with the large crowd of people which grew by that time, it was impossible to get a nice spot to be able to shoot some pictures. There was very little space where the public could actually have a good view and all those who were at the back had the view blocked by people holding umbrellas to hide themselves from the sun.
So, when the soldiers started marching in to kickoff the start of the celebrations, I decided to return to office, shooting pictures on the way back :
Modi’s arrival
On the way, I was lucky to come across Modi’s impressive cortege which consisted of at least 10 moto traffic officers, probably around 10-15 vehicles, including a SAMU ambulance and another medical van :
Some shots from office
Once in office, I was able to get some few shots of the helicopters (including my favorite, the Druv) and the National Coast Guard’s plane.
And that’s the whole view from my office’s window. Just imagine the zoom of my lens :
Points to note
Although I did not assist the whole ceremony, I already attended one of the rehearsals the day before. The whole of the show was du déjà vue. Nothing impressive, the contents practically remain the same every year, except for a few things. For example, this year, the Indian Navy band produced themselves and as compared to our national police band, they shake their bodies while doing their show. And there’s also the acrobatic performance of the members of some division of the SMF while jumping around a circle of fire. (Thanks to Vrijnesh for highlighting some errors in this paragraph)
I find it unfortunate that the authorities have decided to organize the celebrations at Champs de Mars instead of Anjalay Stadium, like the previous years 2013 and 2014. The Stadium clearly allowed people to have a good view from all around and umbrellas were not a problem. I hope that the concerned people will take this into consideration. And for those who don’t remember, we played the National Anthem during my sister’s wedding ceremony in 2011.
Happy Independence and Republic anniversary to all Mauritians!
Long live Mauritius!
Yashvinblogs 