PUBLIC PROPERTY

Saturday, August 16, 2008

INdependence


Never thought that Hyderabad could turn into such a crowded place one day. 15th August, while everybody else was enjoying their Independence with all their comforts, I was stuck in traffic for almost an hour. It was late in the evening and as the bus didn’t seem to move from its place, I quickly opened the window to take a glimpse of whatever remained of the beautiful nature amidst the choking buildings.

As soon as I opened the window, I saw this tall building. I saw this tall building with men in uniform guarding it. It was the Police Commissioner’s Office. It stood there from the time I was a tiny tot.

It was 15th august and as one would expect, the building looked completely different. The officers (most of them looked freshers) were decorating it with lights and flags all over. While the others among them were staring at the traffic outside from their compound wall, one of them came out like he owned the country and what followed next would be such a shame to describe. The officer, the so called guardian started singing and whistling at the gal who was in a dilemma of crossing the road.

I remembered those days…what a pride I took in waving at them with happiness when I was a kid. And now, every time I pass by them, I have my head bowed down in fear, anger and shame.

The bus started moving at a tortoise’s pace and when we moved a further centimeters, it halted again. This time when my eyes were searching for the beautiful mother nature once again, I came across a small shoe mending shop. The owner of the shop was training a kid on the shoe mending thing.

When the owner got busy conversing with a guy in the next shop, the kid immediately got up and sat on the table outside the shop with his legs folded. He sat there silently, gazing at the passers by and within few minutes he was swaying to the horns and sounds of engines of the vehicles. What sounds like noise to all of us, might have sounded like a lullaby to him, I thought.
His eyes half open, his head tilted and swaying, he was almost asleep. Just when I thought he would fall down from the table in that unconsciousness, there was a kick and a thud on his head. It was the owner waking up the kid from his sleep and asking him to get back to work. For once I forgot all my worries and was feeling so sorry for the kid.

There are thousands of them out there…working in hotels, in wine shops, selling goodies at the traffic signals, begging and bringing out all their marketing skills at such a young age. I wonder if they will ever get their freedom.

And this is to all of us who are proud to celebrate the Independence Day.

Do we actually understand why Aug 15th is celebrated as an independence day or we celebrate it considering it as just another festival and just coz we get a holiday on this day?
Do we understand the meaning of independence?

I wonder if the day would ever come when all those kids would celebrate their freedom and get to say:
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

P.S: The officer’s incident described above was not to blame or raise any questions on the police department. I apologize if it hurt someone. It was to say that just few wrong people in any department can bring a blot on the whole department.
Kudos to all our officers and jawans who sacrifice their lives to protect us. Jai Hind! 

10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used to wonder, what is freedom.. The day we celebrate, its not being free. It should not be the case someone giving you freedom. like in this case, the english gave us freedom, or we fought for freedom.

Thinking over years, I'm yet to find a convincing answer/defination to what is freedom? Are we free? if at all, free from what???

Still I could see we are not free, bonded by something or the other. then why celebrate the day??

What about the animals in wild...? What do we call their state, I would call it freedom. But does it look as convincing to be free. I guess not.!

5:01 AM  
Blogger Srikanth said...

"Happy Independance day"!! Surely has become just a formality.. For office goers and school children its just another holiday. As for the others, it probabaly makes no diffference...

Independance Day surely has lost its its significance over the years... Just a bunch of meaningless ceremonies and Oh!! in the offices some colourful festivities...

A show of faith, a small gesture, an act which will relive the legacy and the struggles of the past is what is needed... Not "Happy Independance Day"...

Here's some food for thought -
India is at the mercy of the Oil prodcucing nations. It literally has to beg and negotiate so they don't increse prices..

4% of our economy is driven by the IT industry in the US

Our farmers have to buy seeds and fertilizers from other countries because the ones we find here are no good.

Inspite of agriculture being the mainstay of our economy we still have to import food grains..

Our GDP is growing at more than 8% but inflation is way higher at 12%

India is bonded more than ever by all of these to a host of nations both big and small.. This is probably worse than what it was under the British Raj..

What really is there to celebrate then??

2:08 PM  
Blogger Srikanth said...

As for the other instances in this post - More often than not I get the feeling that the moral, social and cultural fibre of the nation has been lost for ever...

As India gears up to be the Next Big Thing, its people have stooped to levels so low, there seems to be no way back..

Eve teasing, rape, child labour, communal violence, disgustoids in the name of men and women and what not..

And I wonder, can India ever become a Super Power, A Great Nation..

The odds of that certainly look bleak at the moment..

2:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why speak! why not act?
Friend, when you mentioned about the incident of the javaan taunting a girl, I can sense no one did nothing to stop it, probably may be out of fear!? Ain't it!
This is the weakness which is letting down India...nothing else..
fear to stop! fear to speak! fear to question!...until unless we start our bit instead of taking things for granted and blaming fire on everyone this ain't changing!

as i see friend Srikanth pointing out the statistics...but there are so many stats one had to consider for growth GDP itself does not speak anything and the way inflation is calculated in India is not in accord with other countries...!

I see most of my friends who have the capability to become not just s/w engineers but achieve outstanding doctorates in their field of interest and many more but we ourselves are so attracted to the fad of IT? why! :)..No answer?!

As the song goes "Hum honge kaamyaab"...one should not just sing it but consider doing what it says! then Im sure India surely will be the GREAT NATION.

--vivek

9:36 PM  
Blogger nikki said...

@Jay/Srikanth/Vivek - Very well said ..if words are put ino actions we can acheive so much...

7:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

:)

5:42 PM  
Blogger nikki said...

err thts a gud smile

9:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy Independence Day my friend

5:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

--from vivek

5:07 PM  
Blogger nikki said...

thanks vivek :)

5:48 AM  

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