Freedom fervour forever: Crowd matches performers at Bengaluru I-day celebrations

The Tricolour shone through flags, face paint and various articles of clothing at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground, which saw a packed, jubilant crowd celebrating the Independence Day on Thursday. 

There was a sense of patriotic fervour during the unfurling of the flag. The singing of the national anthem by the crowd, their loud cheers and claps when the uniformed platoons began marching past the dais nearly drowned out their steady marching beat. 

In a first, about 400 students, members from the National Social Service state unit and department of youth empowerment and sports, all donning colourful costumes, presented the government’s 'five ambitious guarantee schemes' in a dance drama. 

Hundreds of children put together performances on the life and legacy of freedom fighter Rani Abbakka Devi and portraying stories of the freedom struggle, with an infectious energy that was matched by viewers. 

First-time viewers gleefully cheered, exclaiming with 'oohs' and 'aahs' at the Malla Kamba display by a team from the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment Centre and the paramotor display by the Parachute Regiment Training Centre. 

What drew the loudest cheers, like it happens every Republic Day or Independence Day event, was the motorcycle display by the Corps of Military Police Centre and School. People stood atop their chairs, many expertly balancing their kids on their shoulders with their hands and holding up their phones to record the stunts. 

Two 'jokers' from the trained stunt team kept the crowd entertained in the foreground as bikers jumped through a fire loop a few times, before leaping over other team members or balancing one another in complicated formations on a speeding bike.