Last week India celebrated her 61st birthday on August 15, which reminded me of India's 50th year of Independence.

I was in high school back then and used to go to school in an autorickshaw with my friends, Suna and Kavitha. There were celebrations all over the country. We also wanted to do something special on that day. We gave our pocket money to the auto driver and bought some balloons, colour chalks, flags and stickers of India, and toffees. In the morning we decorated our autorickshaw with the stuff we bought......whew it was a spectacle. And on the way to school, we shouted 'Jai Hind' (praise India) and 'Vande Mataram' (bowing before motherland), and threw toffees at whomsoever we met on the road.

We were so happy and puffed up with pride and felt like we did some thing for the country. I rushed home after school that day to tell everyone about our great patriotic deed. But they already knew, the news had spread in the village. And quite contrary to what I had expected, I got a good whacking from my mother. She advised me later that young ladies should be soft-spoken and obedient that people outside should not know that such a girl lives in that house, or else they will start gossiping about your character and you would not get marriage proposals from good families in the future. I had learned a very important lesson that day.