The fifth Blog Mela of the year 2005 shall be put up here at The Examined Life on Friday 28 January 2005 unless the fates decree otherwise, in which case I shall make every attempt to put it up at the latest by Monday, the 1st of February 2005. The rules for submission are the same as usual. You can submit your entries as a comment to this post. However, read the whole post once, for I wish to add a couple of special sections to this event.

A virtual Republic Day pageant:
On the 26th we shall be celebrating Republic day. In the tradition of Republic Day pageants, why not write a piece focusing on some specific feature or facet of India? Of course, the whole Mela is about India, but posts that go into this section should be one that will help a future historian or a current outsider understand India in some way. You could write about some art forms, cultural practices, festivals, attitudes, anything. If you had to devise the written equivalent of one of those floats you see in the Republic Day parade, how would you do it ? (Actually I hate those floats, they are always shoddy and silly, but perhaps you can do better?) You need not write only good stuff, but entries that go into this section should focus more on describing than on judging. I’d like to really see some photo features too, though it might be too much to ask.

Looking back on the Republic
If you had to do it today, how would you structure the Republic differently? How would you change the constitution? How would you distribute powers? How would the political structure be? Can you write a post on that? If you do, that will go into this section.

The normal stuff
Don’t let the previous two sections intimidate you. If it doesn’t fit there, it will fit here.

The rules

1. Posts should be dated between 21st Jan and 27th Jan. Both days are included.
   
2. It should be written by Indians or should be on India.
   
3. Personal posts are allowed are not allowed are allowed are not allowed. OK. Just submit them. If they are good they will go on the mela.
   
4. Indian language posts are welcome. If the post is not in Hindi, Marathi or Kannada, please add a description.
   

To submit
Put it as a comment to this post (Edited as per Yazad’s suggestion. If you’ve already submitted using the contact form, you don’t have to resubmit).

That’s all. Thank you for your attention junta. Now I shall go to sleep, perchance to dream.