I don't know what brings me to this place today after a long 9 months break. I have no clue. Nevertheless.

The calender on my desk reads 26th January 2013. So? What does it mean to me? Nothing. When I was a kid, someone once told me that we celebrate this day because this day, in the year 1950, the Constitution of our country came into force. However, that someone, forgot to tell me what the Constitution meant. I have never had the privilege to watch the so called republic day parade on TV. Until a year back, I did not even know there was something known as "beating the retreat". So, 26th January was just another day when we would go to school, listen to the patriotic songs on the speakers, wait for our turn to get boondi and come back home.

More than the Constitution, I remember 26th January as the day of mass destruction. 20,000 lives and several thousand homes. The Gujarat Earthquake. Year 2001. I remember stories told to me by a newbie who had shifted to my school from Gujarat that year. That they had all gathered in their school for the flag hoisting when they felt tremors. That in front of their eyes, the walls of their classroom were falling apart. That they would never forget the heroics of their teachers who made sure that the kids reach home safely, or whatever that was left. 

I don't think the Constitution will ever be able to overpower my memory of this day. The day when nature made lakhs mourn the death of their loved ones.