Puneities on what R-Day means to them

INDIA celebrates its 59th Republic Day today amid unprecedented security. The nation faces challenges on all fronts economic, social and security. Shree Lahiri spoke to a cross section of people on what Republic Day means to them.

Led by information technology, our country has made tremendous progress. Cities like Pune must continue to support business and societal growth in these difficult times to keep India on the right path. We should reaffirm our faith on this day.
Dr Ganesh Natrajan
Chairman, NASSCOM

The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks brought in tremendous amount of bonding. The future is a breed of young Indians who far more resilient and who have the capacity to overcome these tough situation.
Jaisurya Das
MD, Xanadu Consulting

Most of us don't understand the Republic Day. All we need to know or rather find is humanity that has been lost in this world of republicans and democrats.
Nikhil Ramesh
Student, Fergusson College

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Being from an army background, each day I feel like a proud Indian. o Republic Day to me is a day to celebrate being an Indian. A day where I can celebrateu00a0 the birth of the Indian constitution.

Every family goes through good and bad days. We have our own positive and negative aspects, we need to learn to accept them
Sandip Soparrkar,
Dancer and choreographer

It reminds me of a secular and democratic India where every state is be proud of its ability to attract and retain people from all parts of India and the world.
Pratap Gupta
Director (Finance), ISB&M

Being the youth of contemporary India, Republic Day is much more to me than just celebrations. It is the symbol of India's progress in a pan-variety field. So, I expect India to really focus on taking itself a step further rather than just flag hoisting and forgetting about it the next day.
Sudipta Mishra
Media Management Student, ISB&M

For the current generation, Republic Day is just another national holiday where everyone tries to dress up everything in tricolour. I hope the current year brings a bit of more awareness in the scattered minds of all.
Nandita Sarkar
Student, ISB&M