On August 15th, 1947
00:00 hrs, we were freed. We were given Independence to rule own our own land.
We chose to be a democratic nation mostly impressed from Western Politics. It
has been 66 years since then. At this
Juncture, A rhetoric but pragmatic question arises, Are we, the people, now
with Independence living as our forefathers had dreamed of. I feel apprehensive
in accepting that we are not what we wanted to be!!
I must admit that we have
made wrong decisions as a whole, down this line, in building ourselves. We
wanted to be that Grandiose Nation which we were some thousand years back. But that
was not a Nation. There was no Unified Bharath. People were immersed in
PragaDharm and King in RajDharm. We only knew to live under a King. We were
never asked to choose. Only, Willing People fought and ruled. We just lived
under a social code thought by Hindutva which has constantly evolved with time.
And then, there were invasions. As all Grandiose attracts both Good and Bad, We
accepted Good but we failed to fight Bad. We just accepted whatever came by. In
this process, we lost our true Identity in many small but affecting ways. The
awakening has been happening in these invaded times but only in parts, never a
whole. We want things to happen but we want somebody to do it for us.
We might be living and
celebrating happily every August 15th that we acquired freedom from
external rule by our efforts but there is different story behind it. Britishers
built President's Palace (Rastrapathi Bhavan) thinking that they will rule
India forever. They never had doubt about ruling us but there was a short
fanatic man in Germany who changed dynamics in the World. If there were no
World Wars, We might have been still fighting in bits and parts to rule our own
land. But as it happened, Britishers suffered huge financial losses after the
second world war which made it very difficult for them to sustain Colonial
lands. Thankfully, Undivided India was very big and posed a big challenge to be
ruled under those circumstances. We should not forget at the same time, we
fought arm in arm with Britishers, and also fought against Britishers in India
for freedom. Our own Immortal leaders asked our soldiers to fight for British
in World War. How can a Common man understand the background of cosmic (out of
the world) philosophical theories posed by our Immortal Leaders?
Britishers had decided to
grant us freedom by June, 1948 but as soon as Our God-like Leaders got to know
there will eventually be a transfer of rule. There own egoistic calculations,
plots and actions came by. At the cost of Undivided Mother India, They played.
People as always turned a blind eye and played along. We hoisted our National flag
at Red fort as thousands of innocents were being raped and butchered across our
land and borders. People themselves killed their daughters and wives to avoid
getting raped. We celebrated as the Tryst with Destiny was going on. I honestly
admit that i don’t like the way we got our independence. I don’t like to accept
that we had to divide our holy land just because some egoistic men were greedy
to rule. We lost Indus, one of our seven sacred rivers in this division but who
cared. Considering an outsider point of view, I don’t like those two persons
whom they call Mahatma and Pandit now who experimented with the idea of India
at very heavy and painful sacrifices.
I don’t know whom to
blame. Our people inherently are imbibed with non-violence. It is not a foreign
concept for us. But we should fight for ourselves when time arises not with
Philosophy but with Audacity to claim what is ours. A civilization has its own
identity and one should fight blood and bones to preserve it. In Life, One
lives with some objectives which are at root and identifying ourselves with our
past is one of them. In this personal vendetta of some good speaking people, we
lost our identity. We are now dependent on education which doesn’t reflect our
Nation's DNA.
We have accepted our
Anthem which was originally written to praise King George V. We sing with all
fervor and devotion but who is this Adinayaka?Bharatha Bhagya Vidhata? Who is
that Vidhatha the entire nation is praising about? We are living under times
where thanking Mother Land has become communal.
All these 66 years, We have created an Highly
divided society. We ourselves have let anti-nationals and separatists grow. We
are also fighting for their rights. We have created a section of people for
whom Western life is the mantra. Where is that Ego for India? Are we lost and
hopeless from within?
We created a constitution
which took all the good features from the World but in practice we have become
a hegemonic hypocritical society. All learned people are hopelessly alienated
from ground level realities. We can’t be creating philosophies all the time
which we can’t live. Philosophies are good only when we can live them. We are
all preachers who don’t practice what we preach. We want all the good things to
happen but we don’t want to spend our time on it. This elusive freedom has made
us lazy, careless and directionless citizens.
Still, there is hope.
There is one more side. There is this new huge legion of youth power coming by.
With the advent of modern age media, We are creating a platform to share and
learn, to realize the common goal. There is some hope in new age leaders. Time
might be coming in near future where the unfulfilled dream of Swamy Vivekananda
might become a reality. We might Awake, Arise and stop not still our Common
Goal is reached. We no longer accept
blind truths; we have realized the dirty tactics of greedy politicians. We now
dream for us as a whole. The flame is burning. The desire for a better tomorrow
is gaining strength. All we want is a beacon to lead us, to give us strength,
to fuel our spirits.
We are lucky to have born
in this holy land. Our Mother India has accepted all who has ever come to her.
There can’t be a richer life than that is here. There can’t be a sweeter
freedom than what we have. Let us bring meaning to countless sacrifices that
gave us this freedom. Let us fight as one to see a smile on our Mother and her
sons. Let my Billion Brethren stop dreaming and start working.
-Shashank(14-08-13)
