’66 yrs on,we are not truly independent’

Just the way India changed the world that bright and promising August.

Sarah khalkho,IX-B,

Amity international School,

Sec-46,Gurgaon

We live in a country where the constitution guarantees freedom of speech whereas the government doesn’t. Today laws are made by elected representatives and are thrown at us. Every other day some new law is made for the elite. This is the state of independence that we have attained. Girls fear to come out alone in cities as well in villages at night as they anticipate rape and molestation. It’s high time that each and every citizen of the nation realises their responsibilities and work towards the construction of a self-sustaining nation with least dependence on foreign culture,money,power and influence. 

Siddhant Patra,

Springdales School,Dhaula Kuan

Yes we are free as we are free to think,we are free to speak,we are free to present our views,we have a free life. We have individual brains,individual rights,individual bodies,and have control over our individual action. Our Constitution also gives us the fundamental rights by which we are free to give votes or we say we are free to choose our own leaders who can solve our problems and we also have a judiciary which protects our rights… and also we should not forget that Indian government has a democratic base. It means that India has a government of the people,for the people,and by the people.

Freedom is something words can’t explain,

It is like kids getting wet in rain,

It is like children playing at twilight,

It is what birds enjoy in their flight,

It is a feeling of fun which one gets in a long run.

Bhavya Bedi,XI Commerce,

Ramjas School,Pusa Road

My picture about my real home and family…India and my fellow Indians…is inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s poem “Where the head is held high and the mind is without fear”. Father of the nation,Mahatma Gandhi said,”Be the change you want to see.” As I see it,we are yet to achieve freedom from corruption,poverty,child labour. As I look around me… I realise we can be called free India only when we can provide the basic necessities of clean drinking water,electricity,food,education,law and order to every citizen,even in the remotest villages… To achieve this we all have to think as responsible citizens… improve our sense of community and work together as Team India for a free India.

Bijoy Bhaskar Lall,VI-B,Modern School,Vasant Vihar

Freedom in mind

Faith in words

Pride in our heart

Memories in our souls

Let’s salute our nation

We love India,we like India ,India is like a dream,flowing like a stream.

How truly said to make our India a land of dreams.

One question that keeps on tourmenting us is that,is this the India we and our forefathers had dreamt of? Is this the country we feel proud off? Is this our Independent India?

I too being a citizen of this country have never dreamt of the deplorable condition of our motherland India.

We the children are the future of the country if we start working with devotion,dedication and sincearity. The day is not far when everybody will come forward and understand his commitments towards there India.

Sooner or later hope sustains life.

Aastha Anand ,XII- E,

St. Mark’s Sr. Sec. Public School

Janakpuri,New Delhi.

Celebrations are in full swing for the day which is eternally engraved in our memories forever. Our independence day brings us a day filled with excitements. For people like me,it’s quite a joy to sleep in late and not go to schools or offices. But the question arises,are we really independent? Well… I don’t think so. We are not independent from religious conflicts,where our bureaucracies are filled with corrupt people in the form of weeds which continue to tarnish India’s reputation and not to mention that of its citizens.

Saman kidwai,XII-V,

dps rk puram

‘True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what is right.’

India celebrates Independence Day on August 15 each year. But is our independence limited to flag hoisting and listening to a speech? Is it all about patriotic songs and movies? Or is it much more? Independence was not gifted to us but our leaders fought for it but the progress is limited to certain fields. There are plenty of issues from which the country needs to be liberated from some of these are — poverty,illiteracy,corruption and violence against the weak. Naxalism and terrorism in the name of religion make us wonder if we are actually secular. The government should eradicate poverty,educate the masses and the youth should be given charge of uprooting corruption. Every religion should live in peace and the day all this is done,that day will be the Independence Day for India.

Pratishtha kohli,ix-a,

the indian school

Sitting at my computer I decided to do a MS Word thesaurus lookup of the word “Independence” and here is what popped up as synonyms — self-governance,self-sufficiency,and impartiality. All these loaded terms compelled me to contemplate — how independent is India?  To be honest,we are not really independent. We have got rid of foreigners from ruling us but their impact is left on us. We are bounded by foreign goods. Foreign companies are taking over India and its economy. The social evils doing the devil dance in India,have crippled us,our identities as proud Indians. Caste system,gender inequalities and unemployment. This is because even after gaining independence we are neither self-governing,nor self-sufficient.

Siddharth Goel,

Maxfort School,Rohini

Are we truly independent? On the 67th birthday of our republic,let us stop for a moment and take stock.

In the initial euphoria of attaining independence in 1947,lot of well meaning decisions on governance,economy,foreign policy etc. were taken and the expectation was we’ll correct any mistake along the way. Most leaders then were inspiring and people welfare oriented. But things started unraveling due to both external and internal events. We started taking pride in saying India is the world’s largest democracy,not realising that mere holding of elections does not constitute democracy. Even today,in many regions there is rigging and booth capturing,reducing the elections to a farce. In recent years,the so far silent middle class majority seems to be saying enough is enough and has started voicing its support for anti corruption movement,atrocities against women,etc.

G.Ananyaa,

Birla Vidya Niketan

On August 15 ,1947,India gained political independence from its colonial rulers,and on January 26,1950,we adopted the “democratic” Constitution and became a republic,at least formally .Today,however,the veracity of these sentences stands challenged. Not because the dates are disputed,but because we Indians doubt whether we are given the liberty the citizens of an independent nation should be given,or whether the makers of the voluminous Indian Constitution ever knew how gross injustice its future guardians were going to do to it .The chief challenges faced are– widespread poverty ,illiteracy,communal violence ,and rampant gender discrimination which hamper the growth of our nation. Politicians call internet governance an “oxymoron” while simultaneously jailing anybody whose latest social networking site activity has any traces of contempt for them. So ,are we really independent? Your guess is as good as mine.

Vatsal Saxena,XII,

Amity International School

Sec- 44 ,NOIDA

Today when we celebrate our 67th independence day,we are proud that even after being looted,cheated and harassed by the British rulers India could not only survive but also emerge as a strong developing country in the world. Yet I feel that though,India is free constitutionally,it has to still free itself from the bondage of poverty,illiteracy,unemployment,crimes,gender inequality and corruption. As Gandhiji said,“Be the change you want to see”. Therefore,we need to bring about changes in ourselves. When each one will take up this responsibility,then India will be free in its true sense.

Saumya Verhwani,x-e,st. mark’s sr. sec. public school, meera bagh,new delhi.

For us the people of India independence means the freedom of speech,expression etc. But the true sense of independence is that we are free to do all good possible to the society without any hesitation. Celebrating Independence day every year does not signify independence. How can we call ourselves free when the women in our country are not free to step out of their houses after 8 pm? We hesitate from even taking smallest initiative to inform police when there is a robbery in our area. We have been provided with all the rights and freedom but we are not ready to implement them. We stand up for the national anthem but don’t stand for something. Every year whenever I observe this date 15th august coming nearer this question wakes me up from the dream of an independent India ‘are we really free?’

Pali Singh

DPS,RajNagar

The British looted and harassed our golden bird,leaving behind a nation bereft of any of hope of survival. And the question that still arises in my mind is that,are we really independent? Aren’t we still bound by the handcuffs of poverty,illiteracy,discrimination,unemployment and numerous other problems which our country needs to deal with? Every single day,we get news about new scams,where our money has been flushed away by people in the government for their own benefits. I don’t know how short the public’s memory is or is it just me thinking about the rapes that take place every single minute and honour killings every day? Being a girl,I don’t feel safe roaming about after sunset. Can you call me free? I don’t think so.

Priyanshaa Ohri,X – C,Amity Intl School,Sec– 43,Gurgaon

We got independence in 1947. But are we really free? Are we not bound by the handcuffs of poverty,illiteracy,corruption and caste system? We call ourselves secular but still there are communal tensions in many parts of the country; self-sufficient but still hundreds of children die every year due to malnutrition. Even as the largest democracy in the world,do we really have a fair choice? Are we really aware of whom we are voting for? We call ourselves educated but continue to be conservative where parents kill their own children for the sake for their honor. Freedom & liberty are just the dictionary meaning of independence. Realization of its true meaning will be our first step towards real independence.

Jijimol P Shaji, XIA,Red Roses Public School,Saket

An independent country is the one in which people have the right to express their views and opinions. Constitutionally,India is an independent country but giving it a second thought,I’d say ‘NO’,India cannot be called truly independent. People in India still struggle to get their rights. Laws are made and thrown upon us and when we protest,we become the sufferer. Most of our fundamental rights are denied to us and we are expected to co-operate. And still we call ourselves ‘the largest democratic and independent country.’ The safety and security of people is an assured sign of independence of any country whereas the recent happening in the capital city of India is an evident that we have yet not achieved independence in a true sense. Independence in a country is euphoric where citizen are dependent on its political system to live independently. An Indian should feel independent throughout the year,just one Independence Day Celebration in an year is not enough.

Hannu Sharma,ix-b,

hillwoods academy

India was under british rule for nearly 350 years. After a long struggle by the freedom fighters,we attained freedom in the year 1947. But that was the political freedom. The true independence i.e. economic freedom is yet to be achieved.Due to the vision of past leaders and several plans the country has progressed a lot. But ‘Poverty’ still is a big issue in this country as a lot of people still are below the poverty line as declared by the ‘Planning Commission’. Due to poverty people are not able to fulfil their needs.The next big issue is the development of science and technology. In the present state,we need to fulfil our own demand in food,healthcare,education,energy requirement and space research.

Rajashree Pati,VII-B,

A.S.N Sr. Sec. School

As Rabindranath Tagore very beautifully puts up ,the essence of true freedom,”The mind is without fear and the head is held high ” , Where the world has not been broken up into narrow domestic walls,there into that heaven of freedom waken up my country my father .” Unfortunately none of the guru’s words have not come true. We are still not independent ,we are mentally slaves. We’ve lost our culture and adopted the one which was never ours.Calling ourselves independent is like a blind saying he has eyes.The true freedom would mean that we have finished out the gaps between poor and the rich,true independence would be when crimes would be put a full stop and people will not fear to come on streets and say proudly “I am an INDIAN.”

Akshat Tyagi,IX-B,

DPS Rajnagar

A country cannot be independent till it can freely express its opinion and act based on its national and strategic interests. Yes,we are independent constitutionally. But let us give it a second thought and ask After 66 years,are we really independent? I do not think so. We still do not have complete freedom. Laws are made by our elected representatives and thrown upon on us. And we call ourselves the largest democracy in the world. Most of our fundamental rights are denied to us. And we are expected to co-operate. India is said to be a secular state. But our secularism goes for a ride whenever there is communal tension in any part of our country. I do not say that all Indians are alike,but a handful of trouble-makers are enough to change the perception of a large majority of sensible minds. We can’t even think independently! An Indian should feel proud throughout the year. Just one Independence Day celebration in a year is not enough. 

Kritarth Bhasin,VI-A,

Modern School ,Vasant Viha

The QUESTION,“Are we really independent” makes my heart bleed for freedom fighters,for whom independence was not everything but the only thing.

One thing which hinders me a lot is the selfishness,the increasing negativity in India,be it corruption,inequality-our country is enslaved by it. The poverty which doubts the independence when we see children selling Indian flags at signals.

Those corrupt ministers whose connivery fill the headlines of every news channel and the front page of the newspaper.The dreams of Mahatama Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru,Bhagat Singh were not captive of just independence from the British but they longed to free India from parasites of corruption.

Earlier,we were under the British. With independence,a transformation of power took place. Those who were oppressed,deprived and neglected still remained the same.

We are responsible for any good or bad happening and that plainly shows,66 years after throwing off the British yoke,we have not fully reaped the fruit of independence.

Bhavya grover,

Maxfort school,Rohini

August 15 1947,it was a Friday. It has been 66 years since that day and all this while we are calling ourselves independent but here the million dollar question arises — are we really independent?

A good introspection of one’s life would reveal a very dismal answer — a big no.

Even today majority of Indian women doubt their independence because they do not have the power to speak up as we are living in a patriarchal society in which the decision making power still rests in the hands of the male members.

Even after so many years it’s never happened that our exports are over our imports. Defence sector is the core sector of every nation but in India due to lack of technologies we are forced to import from urban nations such as US,Russia etc. to meet our defence requirements and in this way India has to shell out billions of dollars and this hampers the ballooning of current account of deficit of the country.

In similar ways there are many other sectors in which India has to go a long way before it actually does justice to the word independence.

Janvi Moondhra,XI,

Ramjas School,Pusa Road