What Independence looks like

Yes we got this Independence due to the economic crisis that struck the British Empire after World War 2 but that does not diminish the kind of torture that our countrymen and freedom fighters have gone through. The sacrifice and resistance are spoken about a lot but let us then think what are we doing out of the freedom that took so much to achieve?

If we did snatch our country from the grip of British, did we do so to make it a better and progressive place to live in or take it on reverse gear altogether? We fight for things as meagre as religion and caste, cows and pigs, temples and mosques. How unfortunate is that!

Society to a great extent builds a human’s persona and that needs to be built up with the true sanity of freedom and away from all kind of prejudices. People have to understand that there is no replacement for education and that an educated mind is free and can change the world. By education, society should stop thinking about degree and marks because degree doesn’t change the society from the roots, what changes is etiquettes, character and the sense of belief that since I want to lead my life in my own way, I have no right to poke my nose into someone else’s life and being.

Government is made by the society and the prejudices prevail everywhere so how can Governance be free from those dirty souls? What else do we expect from the uncouth and uneducated hooligans other than insanity? That is where we should start bringing in freedom and independence, we have to change ourselves and rest of everything will fall in place. Shaping up a child is one of the tasks that we should contribute to. Once we act responsibly, the child will grow up to be just like us seeing us. We might think that it will take too long. Yes it will, but freedom has never come easily. For sure we are not doing anything as dangerous as the freedom fighters by shaping up ourselves and our children but yes we are doing something no else important because we are paying them back through a new India which is the need of the hour. The British are long gone but now we are ruled by people who rob us off our money, who snatch away votes during elections, who protects cow but not people, who thinks if you can marry a girl and convert her into your religion you are making God happy. The colonial empire is gone and Britain has themselves removed the law that led to harassing people of the lgbt community. But we Indians very proudly follow the law and make lives miserable for so many. By educating a child in the right way we can instill in him/her that there is nothing heroic in hooliganism. A child has to be taught that men and women are equal and that a gay is as natural as straight. A child has to be taught that human beings should be respected and that no religion or caste is bigger than humanity. Until and unless a brain is instilled with the values of humanity, the society will keep taking pride in hooliganism and so called masculinity which has no link with humanity. Just like a boy needs to be taught about respecting a girl and treating them equal, a girl needs to be taught the same and that can only happen in a child.

Independent India means blackmailing in the name of army? What wrong has the farmers done that no one bothers about them?

Patriotism means controlling your sexual zeal and taking protection so that you do not have more than two children. Why don’t people think of army while having sex with their wives? That might just work for many. Patriotism does not mean speaking in Hindi and forcing everyone to do so. My patriotism appears in Bangla, for someone it might be in Odia or Malayalam or Assamese and every patriotism is equally strong in its feeling towards nation. Patriotism cannot be bound to a few points of dos and don’ts. Patriotism means standing against dowry, standing against female foeticide. Patriotism means keeping your country clean. Patriotism should come with pride in education, in etiquettes and not in heroic hooliganism and bullying. Patriotism comes with letting every person lead life like he/she wants to till the point he/she is harmless to others. Freedom to choose your food, your religion, your partner, your clothes and your language is what a true patriotic society should look towards.

A free country will be one where a person won’t be judged on gender, sexuality, religion or caste. The freedom will come when a gay guy doesn’t have to get bullied on the streets or a woman won’t be looked down upon for returning late at night. Freedom will come where there will be no one sleeping hungry and in our big wide nation. Freedom will come when every person will have a minimum level of education and a minister would need basic qualification and criminal check before he is left to ‘rule’ us. Freedom from all the prejudices that malign our society will bring in independence. The only thing that we have to get away with at the very first place is our nosey attitude. Indians have grown up to be too inquisitive about what others are doing and what others are thinking. Getting away with it at the very first place will make way for the rest.

Happy Independence Day!