Dubai: Ajay Kumar Shahi, a senior quality control engineer in the UAE, had attended the Indian Republic Day celebrations at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi for 18 years and last year he joined the celebrations at the Indian Consulate in Dubai after moving to Sharjah.
For the past 19 years, he has been taking half-day leave on the day to participate in the celebrations to mark the day the Indian Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950.
When he shifted to the northern side of the UAE, Ajay had decided to continue attending the Republic Day celebrations at the consulate.
But this time, he was unable to make it because the celebrations were not open to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.