It so happened that, as I got out on Panjim City roads at noon on Statehood Day, my attention was drawn by a loud and confident voice of an elderly man educating the world that India was a Democratic Republic and the second largest Democratic Nation. While he stoutly pronounced this, I could see that no man was listening him. I seriously began thinking that this was because he had a pretty bad hang-over. He proudly defined Democracy as “Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Choice....”
Since there was no one around and all the shops were closed, I wondered where democracy would be amply available – and I asked him about where ‘this commodity’ could be found. At this, he laughed, saying nothing. I walked away understanding nothing. I began a wild goose chase in search for ‘democracy’....beginning with any shop -– big or small --- that was open. I even searched the malls and state owned enterprises in every corner of Panjim. I asked passersby. They merely directed me to the next vendor, until finally that I reached the point where I had begun. All the while, however, no one told me that it was a public holiday. I could only see empty roads or the foreign tourists capturing various sights on their cameras.
