Happy Freedom!

Nation celebrated its Independence Day with much gusto. Our Prime Minister broke all barriers to meet and greet the commoners. We are all brimming with hope. Finally, a man who would change the destiny of India.
One day holiday marked to celebrate our freedom. Maybe, the country has gained freedom from the British rule but are we really free? Free to be what we want. Free to live life, the way we wanted. Think again, if you’re answer is ‘yes’.
We are a country of disparities. Where the rich can touch the sky while the poor are struggling for a foothold! The rich has opened the global market and players are competing ruthlessly to catch its attention. The poor are committing suicide in an attempt to give their near ones a better life. The haves have too much yet they don’t share. The have-nots have nothing, yet, they have to share.
We are free. But our women are still not free to go for walk, post evening. Their homes are one of the most unsafe places because most of the perpetrators are people they have well-known. A woman is a woman in my country and crime doesn’t make any distinction between a baby of seven months or an eighty plus woman. Both face rape and other inhuman atrocities.
We are independent but still dependent on the age-old beliefs of finding a family heir who necessarily has to be a son. So kill daughters till you have an heir to carry the legacy of your kinship. Sell daughters to dowry to get rid of them through marriage. Torture the daughters-in-law for dowry even if you have to burn them alive. A woman isn’t of any use till she bears a male child and gives you enough to add to your financial stature.
My leaders have big plans. Yet all plans fall flat in crisis. Be it the roads choking with sewage water in monsoon, or the open deadly drains beaming with diseases. Sadly, most plans live and die in paper.
Opportunities are opening in our country. But why do some of the greatest brains go outside to explore new opportunities? India is the birthplace of some of the greatest but to become great these talents have to move elsewhere.
Our country is free for 68 years now. Isn't it too much to ask from one chosen person to change scheme of things until we all come together at our own level to do something that could change? An independent India where freedom isn’t the territory of few. An India where every Indian is made to feel proud.


Pic Courtesy: Google Images

A lesson no less

He wasn’t dressed for any occasion. The t-shirt was worn out while the slipper was too tired walking and desperately wanted to rest (in one piece). His body odour was everything else than pleasant. You wouldn’t like the idea of having him sit next to you. Who would bear to hold one’s breath all through the journey for fear of fainting in the sweaty smell of a day’s long job?
The place occupied next to him was a complete contrast. The dude was smart, dressed to the tee and had the smell of an expensive deodorant all over him. Even the footwear was making a strong statement of a big brand. The guy was oblivious to the crowd all around, busily glued to his gadget and often flashing few smiles on his own, making the ordeal a little more bearable for the fellow women onlookers.
Definitely the clear portrayal of the evident-class divides in the society where one has everything while the other struggles for even basic things.
Then came a station where again an army of people got into the metro and you can’t blame them because that was the office rush. The already jam-packed cabin was running short of space and with the new pool of people, not an inch was left. Women were sandwiched and most men weren’t doing it on purpose. They had no space to even place their foot safely. Hence, bodies were touching each other and women were hurling abuses under their breath.
Braving the mammoth crowd, an elderly woman made her way up to the two youths. The dude looked at her and avoided an eye-contact trying his level best to act busy toying with his expensive buy.
The old lady was carrying a handbag and a bag. You could see that she was struggling and on her way to lose the battle. The seats weren’t reserved for ladies and neither did it have a sign. So she couldn’t order the men to vacant their seat. But her looks did the talking. She needed a seat desperately. Yet, the world is brutal and our hearts rarely melt. At the end of a busy schedule, you don’t have a heart to gift a space, that too to a wrinkled face. Had it been a young or pretty face, good Samaritans would pour in to save the damsel in distress. Here that wasn’t the case and so who cares?
Then suddenly my perception changed. The guy with not much of a social stature to talk of, got off and gave his seat to the old lady. And he did it even without being asked. He voluntarily offered his seat and just said, “Aunty, you sit down.”
A little gesture spoke a lot about him. That particular gesture broke all social norms and he became a part of what we call “the civilised lot”.
That day, he taught me a big lesson “never judge anyone with the way the person looks”. Thanks for opening my eyes.


Pic Courtesy: Google Images