Independence.

Every living being craves for independence. Every individual has his own definition of independence. Independence gives you the feeling to be free, free from boundaries, free to do what you want.
With Independence Day just around the corner, how independent do we Indians think we are ?

For some independence may mean to be financially independent. For some freedom is when they buy just two meals a day. For them this is freedom, freedom just to earn enough. For others more financially secure, freedom is when they can buy anything they want. Being financially independent gives us a sense of controlling things.

Independence can be when you are free to choose which career you want to pursue. For a high school student it means to choose a subject of his choice. For a graduate it is freedom to choose the area in which he wants to specialize. For an employee it means to be able to work on his choice of projects. And yet there are so many people who are  forced to work.

Freedom is also when you get chose your own friends and relations. You become free to move away from relations that break your trust. Being socially independent helps you in having your own identity in the society. You are not influenced by someone to like a person on not. You have your own views about people. Not all get so lucky!

Think of a bird in cage that is never able to fly away. The bird has to live its whole life at the will of its master. Most of us wont be able to survive these kind of boundations. We all enjoy freedom of movement. No one likes to be restricted to one place. You wont like if someone orders you to stay at one place. We can make our choices to live anywhere we want (legally of course !!!). But still we have slaves who can never enjoy such independence.

The independence which we enjoy the most is freedom to speak our mind. Everyone has his own views and beliefs. But we tend to forget that our words may hurt others sometime. Freedom of speech does not mean that we speak ill of others. We all have rights to present our thoughts but we should think twice before speaking. What about so many people who are never allowed to express how they feel ?

These were just few of the many freedoms which we can have. But how many people actually get a chance to live independently ? Every year we celebrate our Independence Day. But have we ever really thoughts of all those who cannot enjoy even small liberties in life…

What does freedom mean for you? Do share your thoughts in comments. I would love to hear from you.