Amitabh Bachchan recalled the time when he held the national flag at his Allahabad home, and the feelings of patriotism and pride he felt then as a child. Cheering for having the Tricolour in each house, the actor also shared pictures with the flag and wrote on his blog, why he started hoisting the Indian flag at his home.
In his blog, Amitabh recalled that private citizens were not allowed to hoist the Indian national flag, except on certain days, until Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal moved court and got the right to hoist to the flag. “He won the decision in his favour and immediately I started flying our National Flag on our homes, as many that came for the meets on Sunday at the gates would have noticed on Jalsa.
There were, of course, various restrictions – when it should be raised, when brought down, size , material and it was to be made of ‘khadi’ and bought from one particular store in Bangalore till 2014 – now renamed Bengaluru. Now there is a campaign for it to be flown from every home with pride,” the actor wrote.
Amitabh also remembered the time when India got Independence in 1947: “Those memories gently in the mind of the Independence on August 15, 1947 and a five-year-old me holding the flag in our modest home in Allahabad , in the veranda, filled with pride of patriotism, of identity, of being mine and ours, of belonging.”
He added, “And since then each occasion , the emotion that rides with it every time it is played .. one of the most, being the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata and the Indo – Pak cricket match, being asked to sing it live for the start of the game .. and a 100,000 thousand that filled the arena, singing along with me .. my pride of being an Indian !! Jai Hind !! and that ecstatic evening when India won the World Cup Cricket .. Abhishek and I on top of our car waving the Tricolour driving about the streets screaming shouting along with the hundreds that thronged the roads.”
Returning to the present, Amitabh wrote that he sang a few lines for a shoot: “They asked me this afternoon to sing a few lines of the song being picturised for the moment .. I have .. any association with National fervour a pride .. !!”
He also tweeted a pic with the Tricolour and wrote, “Har ghar tiranga, ghar ghar tiranga (The national flag in each house).” Har Ghar Tiranga is a programme by the Ministry of Culture to mark the 75th year of Indian independence.
Recently seen in Ajay Devgn’s Runway 34, Amitabh has many films lined up next. These include Brahmastra Part One and Nag Ashwin’s Project K. He will also return as the host for his popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati.