Independence and Freedom

 There are many notions mixed up in my head
Because the reality of the world is of many mixed notions
Notions.. emotions.. solutions?
I remember my grandmother’s stories
Relating the horrors of partition
She spoke of her own losses…the impact on her family
My family
That changed the course of lives
A family’s lives
A country’s
Sometimes I thought the stories sounded too dramatic to be real
It was when I was too young to know that truth is starker than fiction
Or perhaps that people needed to make stories out of happenings
To assign them meaning

I remember my teacher who evoked patriotic fervor
Who extolled the freedom fighters
And instilled abhorrence of all things ‘foreign’
She made deep impressions on my mind
So much so, I found myself confused,
wearing western clothes as school uniform, and speaking English

How does one express patriotism
In a world where there isn’t a foreign ruler to fight against
But your own people to hold to account
Where you need to export to sustain your economy
As much as you need to import..
Where the boundaries with only the closest neighbours are strictest
But increasingly porous with the rest of the world
In a global village..
What does patriotism mean
That humanity does not
Or basic common sense?

People say the current generations do not know
The value of freedom and independence
Perhaps they are right
Or perhaps the world has evolved so that the meanings of these words imply something different
It is not anyone’s fault- but just the evolution of time as should be
For like an idiot, I am even wondering- do they mean freedom? Or independence?
They are not the same thing, I find
To be independent is to be responsible
To be bound by many things
Many freedoms given up

To be free is…
Did the word ‘free’ unlock a flutter in your heart?
Did your soul rise ever so slightly just at the mention of the word ‘free’?
Then you know what it means

I think about those who took to the streets, risked their lives
Gave up responsibilities, and every kind of security
For freedom
I see enough people, slave to enough number of things, systems and people
On a day to day basis- it is so easy to bow to all these things
And go through life choosing the safer path
That I am fascinated at those who decided to do otherwise
It seems common-sense to us…when someone took their freedom, they fought
But just look around- it is not
It is far easier to toe the line- isn’t it so?
There is a cost to it, of course

There is something that lives and thrives when one is true to the self
In word, in action, in thought
THAT aliveness, is freedom
And if there is one thing that stays ever-relevant,
It is memory of the price that people have been willing to pay
For this freedom
And I ask myself:
Are you free?
Have you been willing to pay the price?

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