As India celebrates its platinum jubilee (75years) of Independence from British Rule, it is time for us to look back and ponder over the chain of events – right from getting enslaved to the glorious victory.
It is time to remind ourselves that of the roots, mistakes, commitment, valour, sacrifices and vision of India’s path towards the struggle for independence.
From the Battle of Plassey (1757 A.D.) which embossed slavery on the temple of our motherland - to India’s first battle of Independence and then finally being declared an Independent State on August 15, 1947 A.D. - it is a saga of treachery, exploitations, heartbreaks, blood-bath, leadership, undaunted spirit and perseverance.
We have been taught about India’s struggle for Independence since our high school days. Our heads held high when the ropes tightened as our beloved tricolour unfolded, manifesting India and singing India’s glory to the whole world. Along swayed our elevated spirits, our emotions and our longing to contribute to our nation.
But as time passed on, this zeal and enthusiasm took a backseat over myriads of distractions, allurements, confusions and one’s quest towards finding pleasures for one’s living. Freedom then starts to have metamorphosed into an “advanced” version.
Under the garbs of freedom of speech, people inject their divisive thoughts in order to cater to their ulterior motives. And the feeling of living and dying for our country no longer makes sense. It is all now directed towards the fulfilment of – “I, Me and Mine”. Fuelling your ego becomes the prime motive. This was and has always been the root problem of mankind.
It was ego and disharmony prevalent between the Princely States during those times that invaders could reap the advantage of and shackled our motherland into its chains, again and again, it is the same ulterior motives that is now between the political parties/ corporate and various sections of our society that triggers and then erupts into many unwanted and never welcomed incidences.
Freedom is a very subjective term. Freedom to youth is to be able to choose what they want to do and where no interference is welcomed. Women talk of being no less than a man, fighting over their rights to enter religious shrines where they are not allowed due to customs prevalent there.
Yes, our constitution of India has given us seven basic fundamental rights, but along with these rights are also certain fundamental duties that are expected of every Indian to abide by. While taking shelter of these fundamental rights and moulding them accordingly as per our needs and wants, we often immolate our fundamental duties.
Time and again it is being told that the future of a nation lies in the hands of its youth. How long can we keep hiding under the garbs of praising the bravery of the centuries-old saga of valour of our freedom fighters? They dreamt, fought and laid their lives for a free India and have now endowed her upon the coming generations to take it forward and uphold its glories for all the times to come. Yes, we have to take lessons from the past but let’s not forget our duties towards our nations at present.
The world today talks of sustainability. It is introduced into various sections such as corporate sustainability, environmental sustainability etc. I would like to introduce another term: Sustainable freedom. Let’s understand what exactly is being called “free”.
It is said what is within, reflects outside. We cannot be free until we have won over the battle which constantly goes within our hearts. The battle between lust, anger, greed, ego, illusion and righteousness.
Where there is no inner freedom, there is no life and where there is no life there is no harmony and where there is no harmony there cannot be sustainability. The root cause of all the problems is the dirt within our hearts.
On this Independence Day, it’s time for our young minds to shift their focus from running blindly in the rat race of finding and acquiring physical facilities towards value-driven skill-building.
To learn to appreciate the very purpose of our existence, only then can we see that the slogan for the 75th year of India’s independence will have some relevance in our lives- “Nation first, always first!!!”
Happy Independence Day