The Journey To Freedom

Yes tomorrow is India’s Independence Day, the day we celebrate the official transfer of power from the rule of the British Queen to that of our own elected government. I add this homegrown technical definition because freedom of a country in my mind has two aspects, the political and the other more socio-cultural. August 15^th is the date that marks the political freedom; hence it has a definite date. But the other freedom is really an ongoing process and I wonder what will really mark the achievement of that.

Growing up I heard such sarcastic phrases as “ Angrez chale gaye par angrezi chhod gaye” (translated- the British have gone but they have left behind their language- English). This is often used for people who speak English and the listener feels that they were merely using a language to impress. So are we still caught in the bondage of a foreign language? Maybe. There is no doubt that the ability to speak English is a huge advantage for us economically but unlike most Europeans, we have not been able to separate the commercial use of the language from the need to use it simply to feel superior. Most of our regional languages are still referred to as vernacular and even our PM makes most of his announcements in English. Catch any European political leader doing that!

On the flip side, for a few years now there has been a definite bravado on the street about being an Indian. You hear people tout the great Indian education system, our huge IT prowess and the fact that the Indian Diaspora the world over is a gallery of leaders and acclaimed achievers (Pandit heading Citi, Nitin Nohria elected Dean at Harvard). Indians have moved beyond pride in “we invented the zero, or we have a long history of art, culture etc. to achievements that are of today. No one is interested in merely resting on our laurels anymore.

To look at the state of the “aam aadmi”- no one really knows how many people live below the proverbial Poverty Line. I am not an economist but my guess is that will depend on where you draw the line. But one thing is for sure- you walk into a house in an average (not completely remote) village today and there is a cell phone in the house. People have some definite timeline of when electricity, and a “pucca” road will come their way and if they want, they have access to health services, agriculture related help etc.

There is no saying when we will be able to completely break the shackles of corruption, discrimination and general apathy towards civic responsibility, but there is no denying that we are headed in that direction. At less than seventy years, we are still a young nation. Our press and media are freer than in most nations and certainly freer than a certain large neighbour that censors even Internet usage. And when one sees the scams coming out of countries like UK, and sees the “Inside Story” on the 2008 economic crash, you have to adjust your perceptions. Even the freest nations have their civic woes and continue to struggle with issues similar to ours.

In the end let us recognize that complete freedom is a constant journey – one that we began when we got political freedom on August 15^th 1947. Let us acknowledge the rights and responsibilities it gave us. The right to build a nation the way we want to and the responsibility to build a nation that we can all be proud of. Jai hind!