25 January,2026 09:40 AM IST | Mumbai | Arpika Bhosale
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In a time when freedom of speech is key in standing up for your own rights, knowledge about what empowers us becomes a weapon we must all possess in our armoury. We curate a list of things that help you become a better citizen in this country.
India in a Day, produced by filmmakers Ridley Scott and Anurag Kashyap, is a one-hour-20-minute documentary that came out nine years ago. What makes the film special is that it was crowdsourced. The directors gathered footage from everyday Indians who uploaded it on a cloud server. What emerges from it is a great picture of India! The film is a great reminder of what our country has come to. There is an especially memorable one-minute timelapse at the end of the film. Catch it on YouTube.
The Instagram handle @indianhistoryposts puts out interesting facts about our history every day. This photograph, for example, was posted on Mahanirpan Divas when the man who helped write our Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar, adopted Buddhism in his quest for equality.
Citizen Under Siege by GN Devy is a must because it talks about how countries in the world move to the Right. The book addresses the questions: How do we safeguard the spirit of democracy? Devy, a cultural activist and literary scholar, has said that the book is his anguished response to the present state in India.
We love podcasts! And even though the market is overcluttered with them, here's one you actually need to listen to. William Darymple's podcast Empire gives us context about why getting the Constitution matters so much. If you have been living under a rock and didn't know about this until now, it's better that you do so now. Stream it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or good old YouTube.
The Instagram handle @artistic_army_kanha usually posts patriotic and India-inspired sketches. Since this writer has a special affinity to making small sketches and pinning them on books and diaries, we love these drawing videos that adds a little creativity to our Republic Day.
