Vaishnavi Gupta and her sister put up the Indian national flag at home and took part in online celebrations organised by their school.

Ajay Kumar Shahi, a senior quality control engineer, has attended Indian Republic Day celebrations at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi for 18 years. Last year, he joined the celebrations at the Indian Consulate in Dubai after moving to Sharjah.

For the past 19 years, he has been taking half-day leave to mark the day the Indian Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950. This year, he was unable to stick to tradition because the events were not open to the public due to the pandemic.

However, Indian missions in the UAE livestreamed 72nd Republic Day celebrations, which were held with only officials and their families in attendance. They had requested the Indian community to join the celebrations virtually.

Virtual celebrations

Shahi also watched the celebrations via social media. “I was very happy to attend Republic Day celebrations at the consulate wearing an Indian flag T-shirt last year. This year I didn’t wear the flag, but I still took half-day leave and watched the programme on Facebook. We also watched the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on TV as usual,” Ajay told Gulf News.

He said nobody had imagined the world would change like this in just a year. However, he said he was happy about the technological advancement in the current times that help people connect virtually and also attend celebrations via social media.

Indian flags at homes

“We put up a flag on our car and kept another one at home. My wife wore a saree in tricolour. That’s all we could do this year. But, we are happy we could at least watch the flag hoisting ceremony and the cultural programmes on Facebook.”

Like Ajay several other Indians found heightened moments of patriotism while watching the virtual celebrations.

Two hours off from duty

Dr Mahaveer Mehta, chairman and medical director of Dr Mahaveer Mehta Medical Centre in Dubai, also took two hours off from his morning duty to watch the Republic Day celebrations at the consulate.

“It was excellent. I am very pleased with the way everything was organised.

The cultural programmes were also great,” he said.

While most of the regular attendees of the event at the consulate missed it this time former Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee Girish Pant managed to join the celebration physically.

Grabbing the opportunity

“I got the opportunity to attend the function this year also because I was with the visiting Indian Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale, who was a guest at the event, and he asked me to accompany him,” he said.

Another expat Ganesh Prasad, a safety manager with a construction company, said his family also attended the virtual ceremony.

“My daughters Vaishnavi and Aakanksha Gupta placed an Indian flag in our flat and they also participated in the online celebration in their school,” he said.

Some Indian schools and Indian associations also held virtual celebrations. Read More