Abhilasha, a first year student of The Department of Communication Studies penned down some thoughts. We thought it was the best way to say Happy Independence Day! 68 years ago, when Jawaharlal Nehru made his famous speech about India’s tryst with destiny, the crowd was left inspired and with a feeling of unity. The riots died down temporarily and everyone rejoiced; India was finally free and all that they had fought for and dreamt about had finally materialized. Back then, Independence signified the end of oppression and a new found pride in one’s self for having achieved what had once been perceived to be impossible. In this day and age, it has turned into a day used mainly to showcase patriotism through status updates and hash tags on Facebook, to some others; it’s all about pointing fingers at the current system but doing nothing to change it. I would not dare to leave out the people to whom it is ‘just another holiday’. We still have the flag hoisting ceremonies and parades, but over time it has lost its appeal to the common citizen. This day is instead marked by consumerism, with people rushing to shops to buy themselves flags and badges of the tri colour, as well as by radio stations playing patriotic songs on a loop, as if trying to shove the fact that it’s Independence Day in our face. What is worse is that the very next day the flags and songs that had meant so much to us the previous day, are conveniently discarded and easily forgotten. Much has changed politically and socially as well since then. Ruling parties have changed periodically, each bringing along their own share of ups and downs, scams have become common place, communal violence has been incited and people have been killed under the watch of the government, which this time didn’t comprise of foreigners. Wrong doers are defended while the innocent suffer and crimes against women are rampant while the economy continues to take a downturn. What we need more than ever before, today, is able leadership, a well-constructed plan and the kind of determination that had once brought us independence. We don’t need independence from an external force this time, but from the various oppressions that plague our system instead. Though this might sound less challenging, it might just be harder to fight for given our diversity in belief, thought and deed. However, I am certain that we still have that spark of nationalism hidden within us. The spark that needs to be developed further and turned into a bright, burning flame of determination to nurture the land that facilitated the growth of our physical bodies, rationality and spirituality, always yielding and never failing. India today, is a country; we need to pledge to work for it in our own ways to make it a nation, uniting all distinct factors under the common identity of being Indian. Because when all is said and done, she is the motherland we love and had once died for, and it would be an untruth if I said that we don’t still rise to the national anthem and salute our flag with pride in our hearts.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 08:30:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015