Some stray thoughts as Independence Day comes closer
One can hear strains of ‘saare jahan se achha, Hindustan hamara’, ‘mere desh ki dharti’, ‘vande mataram’ and so on from the portals of each school as hectic rehearsals go on.Just before Independence Day each school starts searching for a Chief Guest who will unfurl the tricolour and deliver a thought provoking lecture to the kids about how independence was attained and how much the leaders had to sacrifice for the freedom of the country. The children will yawn and fidget as they sit in the sun: after all they hear the same words each year from different chief guests.At the end of the function if everything goes off smoothly the teachers will heave a sigh of relief and pack up all the props for next year.
For most of us Independence Day is another holiday in the list of holidays for the year. After all we were not around when independence was attained. All that we know about it is what we have read in history books and seen in movies. The last few years have seen a glut of patriotic movies like Gadar, The legend of Bhagat Singh, Lagaan, Kisna, Mangal Pandey and so on. These movies have instilled a great deal of nationalist sentiments among Indians all over the world. Suddenly Indians everywhere have become highly patriotic. Just before independence day the markets are flooded with visors, caps and T-shirts with the Indian colours and slogans like ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’, ‘Proud to be Indian’ etc. written on them. Both children and adults buy them and proudly don them on 15th August.
Each year as 15th August approaches I wonder what exactly is it that we are celebrating. What do the words ‘freedom’, ‘liberation’ ‘independence’ and other related words really mean? Is the country really free? Are we really liberated? Have we really succeeded in decolonizing ourselves or are we still mentally shackled to the east? Is the sacrifice given by freedom fighters really worth in todays scenario? Why do we fell shy speaking Hindi in gathering(our mother language)? All the readers are invited to post comment on this topic.
