The Freedom We Got vs. The Freedom We Chose
Happy 79th Independence Day!! We celebrate freedom every year, but do we actually understand it? Or has freedom become an excuse to break rules and forget our responsibilities? This 15th August morning, I woke up to the disturbing noise of loud exhausts and continuous honking by a group of bikers near my home. It instantly took me back to my good old school days when Independence Day carried a very different vibe—a sense of pride, a feeling of freedom, and a day filled with the reverberance of patriotic songs and themes. However, these days, at least in my city, the occasion has sadly turned into an excuse to create nuisance on the roads through bike rallies, blaring exhausts, endless honking, and blocking traffic. Many young people think this is what freedom means—to break rules, behave in an uncivilised manner, and act as if they are above the law. This left me wondering: Is this the freedom we got, or the one we chose? Over time, the memory of India’s great struggle for independ...