Most people would rubbish these questions with a simplified answer as – this is the day our country got independence from foreign rule.
Okay. What was so problematic with foreign rule?
They were not allowing us to be who we were. We did not have the freedom of expression, we did not have the liberty to choose what we want, and we did not have the choice of life that we wanted to live.
True. But we got independence/ freedom 77 years ago, why do we have to celebrate? What is expected from this generation by recalling this day for years to come? Have you ever wondered post-independence what is the role of these free Indians?
You must be wondering, what’s with so many questions?
I too didn’t have neither questions or answers in my mind, until this Independence Day. This Independence Day I celebrated with my school Mahatma Phula Apang Pratishthan. Infosys Sparsh team, Sparsh team head – Priti Budhia, UQH, Infosys Ranjana Chauhan, Head- Client Solutions of Insurance vertical, Infosys Mr. Shriranjan, and Robin hood Army graced the occasion as guests of honor along with founder members of the school – Nalini ma’am, Manav Kamble sir and Nale sir. The event was masterfully hosted by principal Jagtap Sir. Founders shared their struggle to set up this institute and asked the audience some of these questions about what it means to be independent. I delivered a speech at the event but I was truly inspired by the speech of Mr. Manav Kamble Sir and the thoughts of Mr. Nale sir. This blog is an excerpt of the speeches delivered at the school.
1. What is our legacy?
The significance of Independence Day is to remember that we don’t take freedom for granted. We must acknowledge the immense sacrifice made by our previous generations. They sacrifice their today for us to enjoy this freedom. That was their legacy. Have you wondered what would be our legacy? What are we trying to leave for the future Indians? Don’t we have an obligation towards ensuring that we leave the place better than we found it?
We are exploiting natural resources as if there is no tomorrow. Indiscriminate use of water, oil, and land needs to stop. Recycling should not only be limited to government mandates.
We owe it to the future generations. We must conserve the environment. We must prepare for a better tomorrow. We must act responsibly from today onwards.
2. What is our duty towards the country?
The country has been independent for 77 years. Our generation does not know the sacrifice our ancestors did. They had a common cause to fight for. They wanted the British to be gone. Now, what is the common cause? I believe rather than getting distracted by political parties and their agendas, we must strive to make our nation progressive on all fronts. To do so, we must strive for excellence in our own field. There is no greater service to the country than the youth focused on building the nation. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, and many more such dignitaries worked on building the nation post-independence.
We must work on the social fabric of our country. Look at how Mr. Ratan Tata has been working relentlessly on the social fabric of our country.
3. Is there such a need, to build my country? Don’t we see Vikas everywhere?
The world-class airports, the swanky buses, the zooming Vande Bharat trains, swiftly passing Metro trains… Yes, India is progressing. But then there is another side to the story. More than 25 million Indians are below the poverty line (as per govt numbers). Many of these 25 million Indians find two times food a luxury. Many of the people are living on a bare basic minimum. Many portions of our population are homeless. More than three cr. Indians are disabled and only 5% of them are graduates or above with job opportunities.
Mahatma Gandhi once said that until the necessary amenities are reaching the poorest of the poor, I won’t consider our country independent and free.
Considering this definition, do we still call ourselves free and independent when so many of our brothers and sisters sleep hungry?
There is a lot to do and we must start doing it by utilizing our time at hand to the fullest. We must strive to get educated and pursue excellence. Our knowledge should help our country to be better. See how ISRO engineers have used their knowledge to make us all proud, executing the Chandrayan Mission. We must have the courage to build businesses. We must help each other to grow by sharing knowledge. We must understand the responsibility of the society. As they say, if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far build a community.
Let’s pledge on this Independence Day that we will do our part to make our country shine, use natural resources as if we have borrowed them from future generations, and do our part to improve as a society.