15th August 1947: After fighting with British for nearly more than 200 years, we say that our country became free. We fought with the British using different weapons from news paper to Bombs.
Some of us revolted violently, some revolted by peaceful methods, Some of us got themselves hanged, some of us went to jail and some who were less gallant expressed their discontent in their own house. Finally, India became a free country.
Our democratic constitution granted us all the fundamental rights which citizens of any free nation are supposed to have. But do we really understand what these rights mean. At a more fundamental level, do we really understand what is the meaning of freedom ?
In reality, not many people understood what it meant for a country to be free. There is a story often told about a small boy who asked his poor father, "what is the meaning of independence ?" The father replied, "After Independence we will get enough food to eat !". Some people thought independence or freedom is an end to exploitation.
There is another story which throws light on the journey which our country has taken. When the country became free, some people refused to buy rail tickets. The reason which they gave , "We are now free !". I think, this sentence is embedded in our brains and has become our national slogan.
We refuse to obey traffic laws : We are now free !
We spit on roads : We are now free !
We keep volume of our music systems high at night : We are now free !
We refuse to lower the noise levels in Ganpati Festival : We are now free !
We honk unnecessarily on roads : We are now free !
Instead of obeying we break laws : We are now free !
If some one asks us to sacrifice something for larger interest of country, We refuse : We are now free !
In this process, we have become so selfish and blind that we have forgotten to put our country first.
Can we really change this ?
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