Bhubaneswar, Jan. 22: The sight of Tanish Chandran, a Class-VIII student of BMPS Takshila School, twirling and gliding on his roller skates on the Mahatma Gandhi Marg surprised many passers by this morning.

He, along with around 20 friends from his school, was busy practising for the 67th Republic Day celebrations.

"We will showcase various feats using the roller skates, such as circling around while holding hands, which require a lot of co-ordination. We have been preparing for the show for the last one month," said Tanish.

Students from various schools and colleges are busy preparing for the parade to make sure that their steps remain perfect on the Republic Day parade.

Rani Aishwarya Chowdhury, a student of Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir, has been taking part in the parade for the last five years. "This is a great venue to meet new people and make friends. It is a fun-filled affair and one gets to learn teamwork and dedication," she said.

Like every year, a daredevil stunts show by the students of Maharishi College will be one of the main attractions of the parade. A group of 15 boys and girls of the college will showcase their riding skills in 10 bikes. This year, they will present a lotus formation.

Two rounds of march-past are being conducted between 2.30pm and 5.30pm every day in which 89 troupes, each consisting of 32 persons, are taking part.

Apart from the cadets from schools and colleges, jawans of Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Railway Protection Force, 120 Infantry Battalion Territorial Army, home guards and traffic police are also taking part in the drill.

Volunteers of several organisations, such as Red Cross and Brahma Kumaris, will also be a part of the parade along with four cultural groups from Ganjam, Koraput, Kalahandi and Puri.

Police are continuously providing instructions to improve the performance of participants. They are focusing on every minor detail, right from maintenance of gap to guiding the flag bearers.

While as many as 20 platoons of police will be deployed in and around the parade place, additional 10 platoons of police force would be deployed at various parts of the city. "We will intensify frisking of vehicles in the city. Night patrolling will also be intensified," said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.

Adivasi Mela

From creating colourful mud houses with thatched roofs to bamboo adornments, participants at the Adivasi Mela are putting in their best efforts to present a grand show during the fair. The 15-day fair will start on the Adivasi Ground from January 26. With the major attraction of the fair being graphic representation of tribal lifestyle, people from around 25 tribal communities of the state are setting up replicas of their hamlets on the fair ground. Products, including food ingredients and tribal jewellery, are also highlights of the fair. Badis (pulse cakes), turmeric, fumigant, tamarind paste, pulses and cereals such as black gram, kendul, mustard and cumin seeds, cinnamon and a large variety of rice will be available apart from handicraft items such as dongriya shawl, comb, wooden and iron crafts of Bhatra and bamboo crafts. This year, around 150 kiosks will be set up. Adequate security arrangements will be made to ensure smooth conduct of the fair, while CCTV cameras would also be installed. The annual fair is organised by the state scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) department.