I'm not talking about larger, national issues here. Like how liberated we really are, or not for that matter. Don't get me wrong or categorize me as an unpatriotic cynic... its not as if I dismiss the past 61 years of so-called independence as periods of zero-achievements. I'm proud of my country. We have attained a lot, scores of people are definitely better off than they would have been in that era; globally we are emerging as a powerhouse, we are nuclear-equipped, Indian companies are acquiring foreign ones, men are being outsmarted by women in both schoolplaces & workplaces and yes, Bollywood (and its audience) finally accepts mainstream smooches, much to the delight of frontrow whistlers.
I think we term it 'independence' because the only independence we gained is from the British, and that too, territorially. Individually, we are still enmeshed in webs of our own mentalities. We may possess more moolah than our forefathers ever dreamt about, but where is the tranquil life that they led and we so desperately seek? Today we have lost ourselves in the whole rat-race of roti-kapda-makaan. Isn't it funny how we've turned the most basic of human needs into a parade-of-affluence itself? Nah, I don't want a simple roti with boiled vegetables. I want a jumbo McBurger with extra fries and yes, you can add 2 extra layers of cheese too. I don't want to don a salwaar kameez (jeez, I'll look like the local behenji)... I want that new autumn-mid-half-winter-or-fall-whatever ensemble from Versace. A two-room bedroom? Gee, thats so 1990's. I want a plush new apartment with min. 4 bedrooms, a jacuzzi and a pool to play water-polo in. And that too, not in some 'gawti' place like Mira Road. Nothing further than Malabar Hill will do for me.
Nah, I don't think we are liberated at all. We are all silent, unprotesting slaves to the oldest enticer of all - avarice. It consumes us with all its opulence & insatiability and leaves us begging for more. Greed is the source of all troubles. And I'm afraid, it is a bottomless pit we're all falling into. And still falling. There's no coming out of it.
Some independence we have obtained from ourselves indeed.
I think we term it 'independence' because the only independence we gained is from the British, and that too, territorially. Individually, we are still enmeshed in webs of our own mentalities. We may possess more moolah than our forefathers ever dreamt about, but where is the tranquil life that they led and we so desperately seek? Today we have lost ourselves in the whole rat-race of roti-kapda-makaan. Isn't it funny how we've turned the most basic of human needs into a parade-of-affluence itself? Nah, I don't want a simple roti with boiled vegetables. I want a jumbo McBurger with extra fries and yes, you can add 2 extra layers of cheese too. I don't want to don a salwaar kameez (jeez, I'll look like the local behenji)... I want that new autumn-mid-half-winter-or-fall-whatever ensemble from Versace. A two-room bedroom? Gee, thats so 1990's. I want a plush new apartment with min. 4 bedrooms, a jacuzzi and a pool to play water-polo in. And that too, not in some 'gawti' place like Mira Road. Nothing further than Malabar Hill will do for me.
Nah, I don't think we are liberated at all. We are all silent, unprotesting slaves to the oldest enticer of all - avarice. It consumes us with all its opulence & insatiability and leaves us begging for more. Greed is the source of all troubles. And I'm afraid, it is a bottomless pit we're all falling into. And still falling. There's no coming out of it.
Some independence we have obtained from ourselves indeed.
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