On 17th August, the restaurants and cinema halls did brisk business. Holiday plans were made as Friday being declared a holiday led to extended weekend. It was a day of fun and frolic.

As kids we loved impromptu holidays.  The day being declared off just after you have reached the school was super exciting. The school uniform still crisp, untouched lunch box, filled water bottle in hand, loaded school bag lounging on the back, I would knock at my door to face a baffled mother. A boring regular day had suddenly turned interesting. The day would be ours – full of unhindered and uninterrupted play. Why it was a day off, which national leader has died and how are we paying homage to a great person by having a field day was least of our concern. We had a rightful holiday was all that mattered.  Now when I am on the other side of the fence and the kids have moved out and migrated to college, the feeling of exhilaration is replaced with one of despair especially when you are eagerly waiting for your son to come home from the hostel.  The postponing of exams results into holiday plans being dumped and the flights being cancelled. Not to mention about the loss of money for the tickets cancelled. At the macro level, there is no accountability for the number of productive man hours lost, hampered production, industry losses due to closure of banks.

Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation and it is our birthright to have a holiday on his birthday. Quiz people on Gandhi and many still think our national father to be a close relative of Indira Gandhi. To keep the tradition of celebrating Gandhi Jayanti alive, a few rural and semi urban schools organize various competitions on the life of Gandhi but certainly not on 2nd Oct. It is the day to have fun with family and friends.

What is the objective of declaring a holiday at the death of a national leader or even for innumerable Jayantis such as Gandhi Jayanti, Basava Jayanti and the list is endless? Are we sitting at home and praying for the departed soul or even learning more about the person? No, there is no time for that, we have other plans.

For sure, if the statesman himself could give his opinion, he would’ve asked us to work an hour extra to pay him our homage in the true sense. We need a selfless leader like Atal Bihari Vajpayee to bring a change in the legislation.