Freedom!

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance"

-Tryst with Destiny speech, Jawaharlal Nehru, 15 August 1947

Red Fort, Delhi

The 67th Independence Day of India is here. This day we all commemorate the political independence our country achieved from the British rule in 1947. We achieved freedom. Freedom that time meant India's free statehood. Full self governance. Free from British trials. A lot (probably our generation cannot imagine the magnitude) was sacrificed, lives lost, families separated. 

Are we free today 66 years later? Are the fundamental rights laid down merely confined to text books? What does freedom mean?Today?

Caught in bondages, restrictions, 'laws', governed by so-called-leaders (and electing them too), fighting against every small and big conflicts, we still are ruled by odds of all sorts. We fight to live a simple life of dignity.We fight to be free from poverty, injustice, honour killings, dowry, crimes against women, gender discrimination, etc. (the list can go on and on). We fight for freedom from inequality. We fight for freedom.The basic rights are curbed at all levels. Right to freedom (Articles 19-22, Constitution of India) form a vital part of Indian freedom. Are we truly protected by those in a transparent way? The 'modern' clauses and new-age obligations imposed by the rulers, religion, society and self, restrict so.

Are we still searching for that moment, that rare historic moment when we step out from old to new and new to newer age? 

What does freedom mean to you in 2013?

P.S: A salute to all the freedom fighters, martyrs, revolutionaries due to whose efforts and lives sacrificed we are privileged to be born in free India. Respect.