We have been celebrating Independence Day every year for the past many decades with great fervour: it sure feels great to be citizens of a free nation, doesn’t it? Still one wonders: are we truly a free country? Many would raise an eyebrow at this question; after all, isn’t India a sovereign nation boasting of being the largest democracy in the world? We are an independent, developing nation. But in this era of globalization, can the government of India take any decision on its own? Though India is politically independent, is not our government somehow bound to act according to the fancies of the world’s super powers? The answer, as many would sadly state, is yes- The Indian government is weak. It is always easy to blame an authority, especially the government of being weak. But do we ever care to think that in a republic like ours, it is simply the attitude of the people which is reflected by the government? Do we ever care to question our own character? Are we, as individuals, truly free? Free to follow our heart, free to live the life we desire, free to follow our life’s calling? Are we not bound by the many restrictions imposed upon us by family and society? Why are we constricted by such shackles, which on deeper thoughts are non-existent? Do family & society really limit us, or are we prisoners of our own imagination?
And when we, as individuals are unable to free ourselves from the fetters of this deceptive society, do we as a nation have any right to call ourselves liberated? Each individual is badly entangled in the web of materialistic pursuits which he has woven himself, just as a nation is ensnared in the vicious network of globalization. The concept of a truly independent country or an individual is maybe just a Utopian concept, an ideal too perfect to be realistically possible.
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