"Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."
These words of Tagore, still manage to send a shiver down the back of my neck, for it reminds me of one of the most imporatnt words in my life.
Freedom of what I choose think and of what I choose to become.The freedom to be the kind of person I'd want people to remember me by. The little pieces of an Indian I'd like them to find, when they choose to break me open.
The orthodox Indian.
The educated Indian.
The old-school Indian.
The 'Chaar log kya kahenge' Indian.
The 'I hate politics so much that I never bothered to find out why I hate it' Indian.
The greedy Indian.
The needy Indian.
The free thinking Indian.
The 'Khaap panchayat ke neeyamo ke anusaar' Indian.
The 'Sab chalta hai' Indian.
The cricket-crazy Indian.
The panipuri loving Indian.
The movie buff Indian.
The traveler Indian.
The religious Indian.
The hypocrite Indian.
The scholar Indian.
The 'Mere baap ka kya jaata hai' Indian.
The non-believer Indian.
The criticizing Indian.
The 'Ladka-Ladki kabhi dost nahi ho sakte' Indian.
The corrupt Indian.
The 'deshbhakti geet on ringtone, yet a pornographer' Indian.
The struggling Indian.
The rapist Indian.
The fighter Indian.
The 'chai-waale uncle' Indian.
The foodie Indian.
The 'Kal kar lenge' Indian.
The happy-go-lucky Indian.
The 'Aur thoda discount milega' Indian.
The 'Rickshaw-waale bhaiya' Indian.
The activist Indian.
The homeless Indian.
The leftist, rightist, communist, socialist, and 'God-knows-what-type'-ist Indian.
The filthy rich Indian.
The tired Indian.
The 'I still feel strongly about the freedom fighters' Indian.
The young Indian.
The old, dying Indian.
We could be any, many, or 'none of the above' Indian. But what binds us together is the thread of history and belonging. We are united and divided, subsequently by the same social fiber of freedom and independence.
And ironical it may seem but freedom comes with helplessness. The helplessness that comes with having the freedom and right to but not being able to. While in the 67th year of independence, someone like me is writing about what she thinks of freedom, there are so many unlike me who still struggle to have two square meals a day. I sometimes wonder, what good is all this after all? All this writing things and putting up pictures on social networking sites about independence and freedom? And after quite sometime, I can reason out some feeble bits of it here and there. I realize, it is important. It's important for people like me and you to talk, read and write about the things we feel about. It's important that the ideas of freedom in my mind can reach out to yours. It stokes them and keeps them from dying. The notions and beliefs of freedom and joy that I have build up over years of education, good upbringing, good books, and good music are my own little treasure trove. For me, the right to vote, the right to information is a big big deal. Things have changed for the better. At least now there are more like me. There are more people who do give a damn. Things are changing. For as long as there is one person who keeps the fire alive, it is worth the call. We are worth all what happened 67 years ago. We have a Google doodle to our name this independence day, for Christ's sake! That's quite something!
While we might not be a good picture of a country that hits the 67th year free from the British rule, I still say we are doing it right.
We are a diverse nation. We Indians can be a little of this and a lot of that. But we are trying to keep things going.And my freedom is worth every bit of everything. Always had been, and always will be.
Happy Independence Day, all. Jai Hind!
