The RD Parade passes in front on my office at Tilak Marg.
The Sapper Contingent was indeed very good.
However I noticed few points in r/o all contingents.
1. Poor stamina. They were shifting Rifles from Rt to left hand and vice versa very frequently. BTW the length of the route is 7 km.
2. Poor dressing especially in the last 2-3 files.
3. Poor military discipline especially among the ranks as they were looking around and talking whereas all contingent commanders were good and had excellent bearing.
4. Plan B was activated in many Contingents due to drop outs, dropping of accoutrements. The supporting staff accompanying the contingents were having a field day.
5. A word of appreciation about parade cdr. He was ram rod straight even when without VIP onlookers and very thoughtfully ack salute from a HI who was dply enroute.
6. many band contingents were better than marching ones.
7. Lastly one good thing is having predominant presence of women. This will be a wake up call Women Offrs who have a shirking attitude.
8. Last but not the least a word of praise about Delhi Police. They were in position since 3 am and they were extremely polite in managing crowd.