India Rocks

India Rocks! A phrase I come across quite often. A phrase people use when a person is happy . A happy satisfied person . Happy and satisfied with India. But again there are many a time when there is quite a lot of India bashing happening too.What is the general picture? Satisfied or Dissatisfied? On this independence day We at fried eye decided to conduct a poll to see what exactly do people think? India Rocks? Or India in a rocky ground? This is here what India thinks. The question- what does independence and indipendence day mean to you? Evoked the following responses from our responders picked up from among different strata and age group of people.

Dr Jayati – Independence day? What does a single day of celebration mean when there is a static thought through out the year- India is the most independent country which follows independence to the T. Everywhere you look people peeing, spitting , abusing … Independence to break all rules , all norms, Independence to trash everything- from movies books sports politics- without giving a thought to consequences. Independence to be heard whenever you feel like speaking. Independence to criticise even if you don’t have the capability to produce tenth of that result yourself. Am I being sarcastic? I don’t know about that, but yes I am behaving independently and I will be lying if I say I don’t enjoy this freedom.
Srajan- ( Tenth standard student)- Independence? You are asking a teenager what Independence means? An Indian teenager? In Indian tradition, a teenager has to imagine the meaning of Independence after reading it in Wikipedia. We are called the future of our country , but at home or schools or public places, how much of our opinion is being asked for. It is only in isolated polls as yours do they bother to voice our thoughts. As for the significance of Independence day , well its more commercialization in the name of celebrations and awareness. Look at the Malls, Complexes shamelessly promoting their products in the name of Independence day without even bothering to instill an iota of Patriotism. Do you really see any Patriotism these days? We just come to hear about it in movies and books.

Rupali – A BE student- Independence and Independence day – though I am not much into demonstration , but deep in my heart this as an Ideology was very dear to me, very important to me. It told me about the struggles and fight of those people who dared to be different and had the heart to fight for what they believed and wanted for themselves and for the next generation. Over and above a fight for Independence It was a fight against the power system which was not only corrupt but also unfair, unjust and cruel too. ( mind you, if they had been a just and a fair system, I don’t think people would have bothered much about freedom) But sadly , now the power system has again shifted to such a state even after being that of an Independent country

Ganga –(maid) (smilingly shyly) There is a parade. They fly kites. Yes they drove away the Angrez on this day. Aur bas kya bolu!
Het raam Rickshaw wala- Hamare liye koi Azaadi nahin hai .. . ( there is no freedom for us We still struggle. We still suffer. We are still neglected)

Leo – A techie from Bangalore and an Avid blogger who blogs at http://leonnyes.wordpress.com had this to say.
Independence, that word says we’re self reliant.. but still, no one is completely independent I feel. We all rely on someone else for something or the other in life.. be it our parents, or our better half, or our friends.. sometimes even strangers.. that word means we try our best to depend on ourselves more than we depend on these people.. We try to make our own decisions.. make our own way in life… like, we can take care of ourselves.. yet not being alone in that care.

Independence Day, well, firstly it means a holiday to me. Used to be from school, then from college, now from work. But on a wider perspective if you see, India is not really independent, or free. We can’t really take our own decisions, some decisions are forced on us, and the echo of silence goes unheard. There are people out there who aren’t free.. women who are abused, and killed in the name of honor.. farmers who kill themselves because the “governments” decision are forced on them, the common man who is held captive to the rising economy.. babies which die without even seeing the first light.. cruel murders which weren’t even the victim’s fault.. a hefty fine for us breaking the smallest rule whereas the “government” authorities can break it and they escape scot-free.. Independence Day is not yet true in all respects.. we’re just free of the British ruling us.. only who rules has changed, the ruling has not… and if a blind eye continues to be cast on such notions, India will not be truly independent in the sense of the word.

Gyanban- A blogger from Singapore shared his thoughts with us. He blogs in www.gyanban.com

It started as a holiday,then changed to a dry day, moved on swiftly to a long weekend plan,then a family outing…

Independence day is an uncomfortable reminder to me – of how little I am doing for my country,and how much I’ve grown to extract from it. Being in a foreign land,I realise every bit of freedom that my country offered and how little I valued it when I was in India.

As a principle I have stopped questioning how my country is being run…I will question again, when I am doing something about it.

Till then I am thankful and will be eternally grateful to those who chose to take responsibility.
And Again as I said-What was once a single dream for thousands of years is a harsh reality now of 63 years.

The idea is to find a balance.No form of extremism is good for any one in this planet – whether it is about a thought,action or culture.Not once dare I say it is easy.But it is the right direction…..at least till the current mass consensus lasts.!

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