The National Flag

"When we had already attained freedom, why did we want to celebrate Republic Day?" Avani asked. Both friends were listening to Anshul very carefully.

- Renuka Srivastava

Anshul was returning home from school when he saw his younger sister, Avani, snatching a paper flag from her friend, Chanchal, in the park near his home. Chanchal did not want to share the flag. By the time Anshul reached them, a tug of war had startedthe flag's stick was in Avani's hand, and the flag was in Chanchal's hand. Both friends were crying and fighting with each other.

As soon as Avani saw Anshul, she ran towards him and told him, crying, "I will not speak with Chanchal. I was asking her to give me the flag to play with. But she didn't!"

"She didn't give you the flag, so you tried to snatch it from her to play with it. That is wrong. Come, let's go to Chanchal and speak to her."

Chanchal was crying with the flag in her hand and seeing Anshul, she cried more. Anshul consoled her, saying, "You're friends, so why are you fighting each other?"

"Avani wanted my flag, and I didn't want to give it to her. Then she started snatching it from me," Chanchal sobbed.

"Oh, I see! You're not aware of the importance of the flag and that is why you are fighting. If you had been aware of its importance, you would not have fought each other. Instead, you would have hoisted the flag in honour and would have been happy."

Wiping her tears, Chanchal said, "Do tell us about the flag's importance so we don't repeat that mistake in the future."

While Anshul was putting the flag on its stick and hoisting it on the pole, Chanchal added, "Don't put it there; put it on my bicycle. It will look good when I ride my bike."

"You cannot put it on your bike."

"But why?" Chanchal asked, surprised.

"Come. I will explain it to you right now." Anshul hoisted the flag on the pole, sat with them both on the bench and said, "This flag is the pride of our nation...it is our dignity. We must always respect it and not tear it to pieces."