Bilkul Sateek News
Gurugram (Paridhi Dhasmana), 15 August – On India’s 79th Independence Day, the tricolour rose high in Gurugram’s Pocket C, Sector 7 — and so did the stench of reality. In a video shared by a local resident, neighbours stand ankle-deep in filthy, stagnant sewer water, their voices steady and proud as they sing the National Anthem, ‘Jana Gana Mana’. The park beneath their feet had turned into a murky pond, but the pride in their hearts remained untarnished.
The scene was both stirring and uncomfortable — a reminder that patriotism here runs deeper than the drains, even if the drains don’t run at all. For weeks, Gurugram has been battling a chaotic monsoon, with waterlogging — the most visible in this video — refusing to recede. But this is only one symptom of a deeper malaise. Across the city, other crises quietly pile up: garbage rotting in open heaps, stray animals wandering unchecked, unemployment draining livelihoods, and even citizens struggling for daily meals. It’s a city where survival often feels like an everyday test, and yet, here in Sector 7, people still stood tall in filthy water to sing for the nation.
Their message was unmissable: patriotism should not be a two-day spectacle of ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ once on 15 August and again on 26 January. True love for the country is measured in 365 days of responsible governance, functional infrastructure, and a city that respects its citizens’ dignity. Instead, Gurugram’s reality this Independence Day is a government that excels at ceremonial optics while failing at basic duty.
As the anthem’s final notes faded into the humid air, the irony lingered — free citizens, bound by neglect; proud voices rising above dirty water; and a city that still waits for the day when freedom will mean not just waving the flag, but living with the dignity it promises.
