“The excitement, the joy of that day…”

Soldiers from war-torn Kashmir and other defence bastions of the nation were brought to the capital to participate. The rehearsals lasted two months. Each day, the soldiers would assemble at dawn at the Ramlila grounds near the Red Fort to practise. Everything had to be perfect. “This parade was solely to boost the bro-ken morale of our people,” says Dubey. “People in the thousands stormed the Ramlila Maidan that day. I was comman-der of the parade. The sight of the specta-cle and the endless crowd got me a bit ner-vous, but at the same time joyous,” he recalls. The Brigadier led the event astride a grey horse. No vehicles had been com-missioned for the parade, except for a mil-itary jeep which had been got for Prime Minister Nehru to inspect and take the salute. “The air was rife with patriotic slo-gans, I felt very proud and fortunate, it was a great honour. Such was the excite-ment and joy of that day.” He remembers the numerous letters and notes of admi-ration he received.

In his speech, the Prime Minister announced that the parade would be held every year, and with civilian participation too. From January 26, 1950, the parade became the Republic Day parade, where the President took the salute. The venue was changed from the Ramlila ground to Vijay Chowk and Rajpath in 1951. And Dubey, who later became GOC, Delhi area, led the parade for five years again—from 1953. Even today, the sound of his name being repeated over the public announce-ment system, amid cheers and slogans, echoes in Dubey’s ears.