The anarchic republic

Speeches by Indian presidents on the eve of the Republic Day are mostly staid. The president, a creature of the Constitution, rarely deviates from the script dictated by the government. Once in a while, a first citizen imparts an idiosyncratic touch to what he says—president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s concern with the future of the country’s youth—but on the whole the exercise is summational and, if one may, it is also boring.

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