68 years on,
are we independent?
Hello everyone!
I wish all readers a happy Independence Day and I want to
convey something to all of you.
I know how much you are interested in hearing about the same
things over and over again, so I will not tell you much about it. Just like you
all know, India got political independence from the Britishers on this
day back in 1947 with the help of the freedom fighters led by Gandhiji.
But, are we really independent? Independence doesn’t only
means political independence but independence and freedom in all aspects. An
independent country is a country where all the people live unitedly without
fear and help each other selflessly. An independent country is a country where
people work for the country and not just to serve their own selfish motive. But
do we find any one of the above characteristics in our country? Probably not
even one.
India is a country full of diversities. From political
parties to school, there are diversities in everything in and around us. It is
a great surprise that in a country of three million people, we don’t have
unity. Speaking about unity, when there is no unity among brothers and sisters,
how can we even think of having national unity! According to Swami
Chinmayanandaji, “There needs to be a cause to be unity.”Gandhiji united the
people by promising them independence from the Britishers. But just moments
earlier they left, our country got divided into two on religious basis.
Commonly we don’t have unity even in schools and colleges also leave other
places. We don’t have unity among friends; we always go on criticizing our
friends at the slightest chance. We walk or drive past boys or people
struggling to put back the cycle chain or struggling to start their vehicles.
We always like to show off in front of others. This is what unity we have in
our country.
The caste system exists even today. And it looks like the
rivalry between Hindus and Muslims will continue to exist forever. The
opposition parties, instead of helping the government, always try to get hold
of a chance to piss the government off. Our girls and women till date fear to
go alone in the night.
There is no doubt India has a large pool of scientists,
engineers, doctors; but India has only a few concerned citizens. Poverty still
is at its maximum height in the country. We can give Rs.100 note in a temple,
but we can walk past beggars when we don’t have change. We don’t bargain in
shopping malls or big markets, but we bargain when we bring things from a poor
shopkeeper. We can give our old clothes to our younger brothers and sisters,
but we can’t give clothes to the poor people. The amount of student suicide is
increasing every year but who cares about it?
Frankly, we don’t have enough time to think about all those
‘useless matters’, but we have enough time to do Whatsapp, Facebook, chat with
our lover for hours and gossip with our friends.
So, my fellow Indian brothers and sisters wake up. You will
be proud to know that most of the Indian population is below 35 years. So it is
we who can transform India with our efforts and realization. We can change our
country to make it not only politically independent but independent from every
aspect. Come lets change this country together so that we can celebrate a
‘real’ independence day next year. Let us all be united and bring real
independence to our country.
Jai Hind!!
©AshutoshAcharya, 2015
