By Saisha Arora
"To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” This quote by Nelson Mandela effectively sums up what it means to be free in today's world. Raised in an India that has been free for 78 years now, it’s easy to presume that Gen Z, to which I belong, doesn’t bother much about the hard-won freedom in 1947. But nearly 80 years after the country got its independence, the question I keep asking is, is India truly free?
Of course, the landscape has changed dramatically in the last couple of decades with progress being seen in areas like science and technology, education, manufacturing, trade, and commerce. But there are also challenges – corruption, terrorism, gender discrimination, unemployment, child labor, and illiteracy, to name a few.
Every year I observe Independence Day celebrated with much fanfare in our school with our principal unfurling the tricolor and students singing patriotic songs. What steals the joy, however, is to witness a group of young children cleaning car windows at a red light, reading in the newspaper about terror threats, or classmates discussing rising suicide cases due to exam stress.
We do fondly remember and respect the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters. Each one of those who laid their life for the country is our icon, which puts the onus on the present governance and young Indians to protect and carve a nation that our leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Lokmanya Tilak dreamed of. To achieve that, freedom from the ills that our nation faces today, is the first step.
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(Saisha Arora is a student of class XI in Delhi-NCR, India. Views expressed are personal)
