To Bengalureans who grew up in the 1980s, Republic Day brings a specific whiff of nostalgia – watching, on Doordarshan, the RD parade, live streamed from foggy Rajpath. The show’s theme this year, so the Horticultural Department tells us, is: ‘Philosopher-poet-saint Basavanna, and vachana literature.’ Basava, so the story goes, rejected the trappings of his caste and left home as …
