Azaadi.. azaadi... azaadi man ki... Azaadi. mere pehchaan ki jo shayad gumnaam hai.. azaadi mere khayalon ki, azaadi mere is zubaan ki.. azaadi ek chotti si aasha ki jo dil mein hi kahin kho gayi hai .... azaadi bas ek muskurahat ki us gareeb ke chehri par , jisko abhi tak yeh maloom nahin hai ki 15 aug ko hum kyun manate hain.. shayaad azaadi ka matlab kahin kho gaya hai ..
As a child , i remember this day as a one of those weird days my dad waking me up early despite it being a holiday to go attend our colony " flag hoisting " ceremony and i would crib, get ready and then innocently would go there only for one reason " laddoo" .. Yes, all of us would get one nice big laddoo at the end of the hoist .. That's the only thing i would be interested in and spend the rest of the day playing while my dad would religiously sit and watch our PM give his speech and take us out later.
As i retrospect this day and wonder why "we" celebrate it..this day brings out more cynicism in me than the rest.. i wonder is it the stark reality that is hitting me on my face on the things that are happening around .. its been 60 plus years , almost a person's lifetime and we would in probably 20 years have no more people from that generation, but i want to think what really does azaadi mean to me. Has azaadi lost its true meaning somewhere, or is it lying somewhere waiting to be awakened ...
"azaadi diwas" being celebrated bcoz of the british left us this country to be run by our people , the very same people who had fought using satyagraha , stayed at kalapaani, walked the Dandi March , dreamt the Indian dream that one day their children would wake up in a motherland that symbolizes " the origin of civilization " , free from exploitation of self, our motherlands resources, free to make our people self reliant , free to be one among the worlds best.. Are we there ?? I don't think so... somewhere something has gone wrong....
Freedom by pure virtue of being freed by british is so cliche. For me, it is to be free from the prejudices that have existed before and is so rampant even today...i yearn to wake up to stay, respond and expand and include and allow and forgive and enjoy and evolve and discern and inquire and accept and admit and divulge and open and reach out and speak up.. Freedom reaches a new high when the weakest voice is heard by the affluent lot and something is done about it to help him...It means the day women in my motherland feel " safe " and free as men are and don't have to worry about how late it is to party and they shouldnt be out for so long.
Freedom is when winning oscars by India is a habit, Freedom is when our sports boards are not run by politicians but when we perform as good as China or Russia do in the olympics... freedom is when talent from so many parts of india does not go waste.. It means correcting and negating the very thought that " being fairer is more pretty "...
Freedom is breaking the North-south divide and we accepting ourselves as Indians first... When i care for the city that i live in, the air that i breathe, the difference i make in the way i can live in harmony with my environment, i would be freee.. , It is when we would share and listen and support and welcome, be propelled by passion not invest in outcomes,when we would breathe and be charmed and amused by difference , be gentle and make room for every emotion of people around us.
This song definitely echoes in my thoughts ....
The world is closing inDid you ever think That we could be so close, like brothersThe future's in the air, I can feel it everywhereBlowing with the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment.On a glory nightWhere the children of tomorrow dream awayin the wind of change
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