It’s been a while since my inaugural and only post for Not Just The Talks, ‘It’s Time To Not Just Keep Talking.‘
came by. Well, to be real, a long time. All this while, I have been
wanting to push forth this effort that was born in my and my friends’
minds, sometime back in March last year, but couldn’t, for some reason
or the other. Regardless of that, any apologies I make today, for
promising to initiate change, and then not committing to it, cannot be
justified for.
Having said that, I do add that today, as I write this post, I am
deeply motivated to make my efforts count, anew. This time, I won’t
stop. No one can stop me. And if you join in, I know for once that you
will make sure no one can stop you. Because, at the end of the day, we
know that this is about not just talking, it’s about living. So, to the
post for today...
Freedom. A word with a million meanings and interpretations. Never
has a struggle for a better humanity, a better civilization, a better
country, or a better person, even, begun without the desire of freedom,
in its fundamental sense. Here, I talk about these very fundamentals, of
our very century, and of our very mindset, which we seek.
To freedom from ineducation.
One of the most prevailing, and according to me, the root of all the
problems we face today. Ineducation. In fact, I think that even the
education that is imparted to us today, is a form of ineducation.
There’s no denying that the education system we are a part of today, is
terribly and incredibly flawed. And even though the law-makers and
educators deny that, deep inside, even they know that it’s so.
Some may argue that Indian professionals reach the top jobs world
over and have reputations like none other. About professionals, let’s
get it straight, MNCs recruit Indians not because they are more
knowledgeable, but because they’re easy preys to their not-so-lucrative
offers, cheaper salaries, and dreams of working abroad in an MNC and
making everyone in their extended families proud and jealous, over those
professionals who graduate from ivy league institutions the world over.
That’s a fact, everyone knows.
At the same time, I don’t doubt the intellect or the ability of
Indians. I’m just pointing out the dubious situation our education
system, puts us in. Also, the uneducated lot among us, the ones who are
not lucky enough to experience the very basics of education, are
affected worse. And that, in my opinion, is the freedom we desire and
need, first.
To freedom from corruption.
Much has been said, seen, done and talked about the ‘India Against
Corruption’ movement in the last 8 months. And there’s enough evidence
that there’s no lacking the utter desire of change of the people of this
nation. But, what are we fighting? I believe, we are fighting we are
fighting our own psyche, the Indian psyche, which we have born and bred
upon, which is filled with a fact we don’t think we can challenge,
corruption.
Let’s face it, corruption, in its nascent and most innocent forms, is
instigated into our mindsets, right from the day we understood material
and monetary portions of life. It begins at toys, clothes and shoes,
goes to watches and gadgets, and ends up in a funny juxtaposed monetary
reality which we blame on the Governments that govern us, the
bureaucrats that work for us, the judiciary that gives us justice, the
police that protect our rights, and the people who try to ease our
lives, everyday.
They are the sons and daughters of the same motherland. They have
learnt it the way we did. And they became the masters of greed because
we trained them on how to receive more, to get our work done easiest and
fastest. And to the count of this day, even in the wrong-est possible
ways. The freedom, the fight for corruption isn’t about one bill or one
Government or a couple of Ministers, it’s about a deeply rooted
comprehension of the reality forth us. That freedom, is ours to take or
leave.
To freedom from social evils and social bondage.
For me, the society is any group of individuals which aims at
strengthening and helping each one of them, in their own special ways.
But, living in India, changes the definition to the very opposite of it,
completely. We live in a society which is headed by illiterate goons
who shred it into pieces on the basis of caste, creed, language,
religion, sex and what not! Then, there are the religious, caste, gender
implications which you ‘must’ abide by to be a part of the society that
you are a part of. Otherwise, you and your family, will be thrown out
of it. How fair!!
I thought secularism something we Indians were proud of. I really
did. But, when I see TV commercials about websites promoting only
inter-caste marriages, read about reports of dowry, Sati among other
malpractices, I laugh at my own self for thinking that today morning, I
woke up in a better India. In fact, even watching censored scenes from
Hollywood movies, in an Adult-only movie, makes me feel about how
constrained the way we Indians think, is! Freedom from this orthodox
life, we sure need.
As far as I know, ‘Right to Freedom’, is a fundamental right given to
us by the Honourable Constitution of India. But, we are afraid, feared.
To change and to be free, from even all that we think is wrong. Because
we think the system will change us, instead. I speak today, for the
generations to come by, because I know that if not us, they will stand
for freedom, and I would rather gift it to them than see them fight for
it. I would rather fall fighting for the freedom that I deserve, than
sit back and watch the world in the current avatar. I would rather have
my last breath knowing that I tried, than feeling pity on my country, my
motherland.
In the coming posts, I will be writing about my take on each one of
these, with the solutions that I think are the steps we take to begin
with, in detail, stay tuned. As for this list, it’s not a comprehensive
one, but well, these are those issues which I feel are the most
important.
Till then, fight for your freedom, in your own little ways. I will,
too. And after a few years, if not tomorrow, we will wake up in an India
we would be more proud to call ours.
For a better India, for freedom, to the death!
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