Freedom is all about having choices: to feel free from within, free to select a path, and have equal opportunities that assist in constructing a purposeful and meaningful life
By Dr Kirti Shekhawat
Morning walks are associated with multiple benefits, one of them being interacting with fellow walkers. One morning, for reasons best known to them I found myself deserted by my fellow walkers. I joined another group, a silent spectator, listening to their conversation, sipping the fresh neem giloy juice. Moments later their discussion converted into virtual memoirs, each reminiscing their experiences and emotions related to India’s independence in 1947 when some were in school, while others narrated tales orally handed down to them by their parents who were witnesses to ‘the golden day’ 15th August 1947.
Interest aroused, I looked at their eyes filled with pride and love for their country, their voices full of passion, their emotions resurfacing as they re-lived those days. To them, breathing in an independent country was freedom!
The words, the looks, the emotions, the treble in their voices were what I carried back with me and it lingered in my mind for days. Born in an independent country, I realized that I had taken freedom for granted. I had no experience of colonial subjugation, the sacrifices, the struggles, the thirst for independence, when life and love, family, and finances were secondary to the country’s independence.
As India celebrates its 78 years of freedom, I pondered upon the changing dimensions and magnitude of ‘freedom’ to a common person today. Tracing the years of independence it struck me that in these 78 years, the meaning has changed for each generation proving the fact that the only constant in the world is change.
Independence brought along with it the pain of partition, border wars and defining boundaries. To the baby boomers (1946-1964) independence was freedom from debt, a reserve bank balance for emergencies that assisted in making them self-reliant, they literally began from the scratch: there was freedom but there was concern and unreliability with the motto, “Better be safe than sorry.” Generation X (1965-1980) also labeled as the latchkey and forgotten generation believed in working anytime, anywhere and anyplace that made them more productive and entrepreneurial. They respected the sacrifices made for them, were active, happy and had a good work-life balance. To them freedom was being the masters of their own destiny, to follow dreams with the motto, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
Millennials (1980-1990) also termed, Generation Y or the Silent Generation were digital natives, technology a part of their life. To them, freedom meant expressing their thoughts in an uninhibited way along with financial freedom so that they could become independent individuals. Freedom of the press and religion is what they strongly believed in so as to “live and let live”.
The next generation also called the ‘Crystal Generation’ is commonly addressed as Generation Z (1990-2010) or the Zoomers. They prioritized economic freedom over anything else so that they could travel at will, party and eat out, indulge in hobbies and make lifestyle choices. Their motto, “Let Me Play and Let Me Loose” describes them.
Beyond the connotations of freedom down the generations, in an average income group Indian household, to a girl, freedom means wearing clothes of her own choice, going wherever she wants to, and loving whoever she wants while to the boy choosing his own career is freedom. To the lower-income group individual, freedom is a synonym for not sleeping hungry.
In a nutshell, freedom is all about having choices: to feel free from within, free to select a path, and have equal opportunities that assist in constructing a purposeful and meaningful life, an essential component of a flourishing individual. This freedom to explore, create and innovate is the driving force for human progress that finally leads to creating prosperous communities and healthy societies that evolve and thrive within the confines of societal rules and directs the motion to spiritual unity.
The diversity in the entire length and breadth of the country, India, where different languages constantly evolve, where various religions coexist, where there is a multitudinous culture, provides a route for the evolution of individuals and societies. These factors make the country spectacular, identical to a beautiful garden with an inner current that connects people. India is not one nation, it is an entire continent where everyone just has to be themself…that's freedom!
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(The writer has been a lifelong academician, educationist, trainer, administrator, and research guide before she became a short-story writer post-superannuation as principal of a college.)
