It’s uncanny that our forefathers had to strive and struggle so desperately for an Independent India. It’s even more strange that we treat our independence as a birth-given right. Today, what we take for granted resulted from combined forces forged throughout British Indian history. It was a blend of hues, cries, rebellions and massacres all because of one motherland, Bharat.
Independence is the ability to obtain basic fundamental rights. It is the state where we can freely express ourselves, work as per our wishes and simply do whatever we want. Independence is when we have no obstructions or restrictions and are free to fly high and soar in the sky.
But that is independence for a citizen. What is independence for us, as distinct individuals? For some, it would be being able to make all their decisions rationally and independently, but ideally, independence should be a state of mind and not a right.
If we are pulled down by the people at our side,
but in our minds, we are transparent and wide
If we don’t show it, but we know it,
That when the time comes, we will fly.
If we have enough faith and courage,
To be the first on a different path,
If we have the belief and encourage,
To be alone but still be without wrath.
If we are disheartened when we fail,
But we don’t give up on our trail
If we can rise after each fall,
But never give up on the target, however tall.
If we know to help the wounded in a race,
And pick them up and slow down our pace,
If we can walk together till the last,
And still, show no glory and no hast.
If we can be clutched in tight chains,
And still, be strong and free as an eagle above the clouds
In high rains,
If we can be crushed like a flower,
And still not lose our essence,
Then that is Independence.
Anvesha Rana,
Grade 10-B,
Gyanshree School
