Independence vs Freedom

It is the eve of our Independence day. I will not be wrong if I say “ It is the eve of Independence day for India as a country¶. India, Bharat, or Hindustan, as a nation, is far from being free. It is the Independence of the country, not the freedom of the Nation. If we have to understand the meaning of “freedom¶, we should recall the glorious words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Gurudev tells us the real meaning of freedom:

Where the mind is without fear

and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been

broken up into fragments by narrow

domestic walls;

Where words come out from

the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its

arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason

has not lost its way into the dreary

desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by

thee into ever-widening thought and

action…

Let all of us strive for this cherished dream of freedom. Fight against our own greed is the mandatory first step towards this goal !