How civil servants celebrated 67th Republic Day; their comments, photos and videos

AS THIS article is being written, Indian civil servants including diplomats stationed across the world have continued to post photos, comments with creative description of their moments of satisfaction while celebrating the 67th Republic Day on Tuesday. BoI picks out this photo of 2009 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS G Veerapandian while receiving an award for a tableau from Andhra Pradesh governor in Vijayawada. The reason? Very few people may be aware of Veerapandian's background and he had to work part-time in tea shops and make parathas at roadside eateries at night to support his education in Madurai. This 34-year-old IAS did his graduation from Loyola College, Chennai, before getting into IAS. Here below are the comments of over a dozen civil servants on how they had celebrated this big R-Day:

Sumita Misra, 1990 batch IAS and Haryana’s principal secretary in tourism, saluted “lacs of policemen on their toes all over the country”, in a social media site. “All set to watch the RDay Parade. Glad its been shortnd & French troops is also a good idea. Happy #RepublicDay” tweeted Misra who is also a poet.
MEA secretary and former India’s ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha posted quite a close-up shot of audience before writing: “#67th Republic Day celebrated with usual gaiety and a march past with tanks, missiles, camels, planes and culture”.
DIPP secretary and 1980 batch IAS Amitabh Kant ‏posted a number of photos showing the headgears of soldiers. “Interesting headgears at d Republic Day Parade! Enjoy the colours!” he posted his comment.
By the time, the Republic Day parade began at Rajpath, India ambassador to Japan and 1981 batch IFS Sujan Chinoy ‏already had what he called a "superb" Republic Day function in Tokyo. He also posted a number of photos of the function where he had hosted 700 guests.
India’s ambassador to Jordan Anil Trigunayat unfurled the Indian Tricolour at India House Amman amid a large Indian community “despite inclement weather”, he said.
IPS officer and Superintendent of Police of Ranga Reddy district of Telangana Rema Rajeshwari particularly appreciated featuring of Army dogs in the parade for the first time after 26 years.
Meanwhile, India’s ambassador to Afghanistan ‏Manpreet Vohra who is also an actor and a huge Arsenal fan, welcomed the Indian community there and read out President Pranab Mukherjee’s message at Heart.
1985 batch Kerala cadre IAS Ajay Kumar appreciated the Digital India Tableau in the parade. “Very cool. Was there to see it!” he tweeted.
Usha Padhee, 1996 batch IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation commented how she was happy to be a part of the “celebration at Rajpath, Glimpses of Odisha in tableau and in Dalkhai dance”. “Proud to b an Indian” she adds.
Varsha Joshi, 1995 batch IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy (Mnre) tweeted about the tableau of her ministry: “Mnre tableau on Rajpath! All moving parts powered by the solar panels & battery unit on it!”
And another IAS Kunal described the 3 SU-30s of the Indian Air Force in Trishul formation as true “Air warriors!”
Also, a number Indian Revenue Service officers like commissioner central excise (Chennai) Rajesh Sodhi, deputy commissioner of central excise Sukchain Singh (Jammu) and principal commissioner Nutan Wodeyar (Bengalulu) celebrated the day with fellow officers in their respective areas.
KBS Sidhu, 1984 batch Punjab cadre IAS, posted the photo of the invitation letter given to him and his wife by the President of India for attending the “At Home” function being held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mobiles of the officers attending that function are now allowed and hence, it would be impossible for the officers to post any photo of that Rashtrapati Bhavan event post parade at Rajpath.
Meanwhile, US ambassador to India Rich Verma posted a 19-second video on how he celebrated India’s 67th Republic Day with his family terming the parade an “impressive show”. He also posted a photo of the last year’s parade when US president Barack Obama was the chief guest.