Come Independence Day and the morning begins with a ring,
bell, drum and trumpet of patriotism. You get up to the sound of songs on
patriotism, news channels telecasting the speeches by leaders, features about
famous people ( read entertainers) born on the same day, like the actress
Rakhee . The tricolor is hoisted, national anthem is sung, guilt suddenly
invades parents who then try injecting the nuances of nationalism into their
children. Young enthusiasts sport tricolor bangles, Indian attires and innocent
toothy faces painted with saffron, white and green. Everyone relishes a holiday,
yet parents feel coerced to wake sleepy kids unceremoniously from their rare
morning siesta to loud proclamations or patriotic songs on radio and mobile. In
the age of social networking, when your all your friends status scream “HAPPY
INDEPENDENCE” one feels obliged to do the same, there is after all something
called networking etiquette..Duhh! You
see elation (or is it so) circulating the net about getting to hear our Prime
Minister speak for a full 60 minutes !!! Isn’t that enough reason for
celebration? Some try to douse the reality with a dash of satire with messages
of “Happy Independence---sorry if you are married”.
But I am sure there are many skeptics among us, the more
serious ones who find it hard to go past the reality, especially when reality
is such an abstract intimidating force for an individual to contend. We are
plagued by the evils that percolate, and hold our society hostage. Where and
what is the Independence we wonder and why are we celebrating? What have we actually
achieved in these 67 years of Independence?
Then there are some who don’t celebrate or repent or even
complain; for them life is forever a journey, a fight to make the future better
than the present. These people work relentlessly, perform their duty with
honesty and dedication; consider each day of their independent life an eternal
struggle, where they work to make the rightful cause victorious. Be it Durga
Shakti Nagpal, Anna Haare, Narayanan Krishnan (A chef who dedicated himself to
feeding the poor living on the street), or Subhashini Mistry (who built a
hospital with the money raised by selling vegetables) - they do not just
complain or question they go those extra steps to put Mahatma’s saying into
practice (Be the change you want to see). Why do we indulge in self-depreciation,
(I am guilty of the same), isn’t it time consuming and futile? Self –introspection
followed by realization and then action to annihilate the deficiencies is more
productive. Why do we dream of the lotus without
putting our hands in the mud? Do we inherit all the goodness of democracy just
because the freedom fighters emerged victorious in their struggle against The British
rule? Sustaining democracy is an even greater struggle. There are still many
battles to be fought and Independence Day celebrates the victory of one such battle.
Yes we do need to celebrate it, so that we are reminded of the extra-ordinary
struggle for even the ordinary causes i.e. Right to live free. We need to
celebrate it to remind us from time to time that freedom doesn’t come cheap;
that the price to uphold the nuances of freedom is heavy and has to be paid
each day in both internal and external battles. So Happy Independence Day ….and
Happy struggle ….the beginning.
