By: Pranita A Deshpande
@advpranita_a
The Hague: August 15 is celebrated every year by all the citizens of India and even Indians residing outside India as “Indian Independence Day”.
We celebrate this day with a lot of pride as a national festival. Really it is a national festival because it shows the true colours of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which means the “world is one family” and it is important for everyone irrespective of caste, creed and religion.
It is a “festival of freedom” which we have today after a long struggle of fighting against British rule.
I think it is our duty to celebrate this “festival of freedom” outside India on a large scale to let our future generations residing outside India know the true value of the sacrifices and struggle of our freedom fighters and remind us the importance of independence and rule of self-governance.
On the “Indian Independence Day”, people shed their religious and social differences and come together, filled with a feeling of patriotism and nationalism.
On this day around 500 Indian diaspora members and friends of India gathered at “India house” – the ambassador’s residence in Wassenaar, Netherlands, to celebrate the 76th anniversary of Independence Day with zeal & patriotic fervour at India House.
The celebration began with the hosting of the Indian flag by ambassador Reenat Sandhu, singing of the national anthem and reading out the President of India address to the nation.
Ambassador also felicitated the AKAMQuiz 2022 winners at the Independence day celebrations at India House Wassenaar.
This was followed by a performance of classical and patriotic dance & songs and delicious Indian snacks.
India and the Netherlands have a long history of friendly bilateral relations going back to more than 400 years encompassing many areas of shared interests.
Every year, Independence day celebrations encourage us to begin fresh towards a more successful and healthy India by preserving our rich cultural ethics and values.
The Author Pranita Deshpande may be contacted on email – advpranita@gmail.com
