The Spirit of Freedom…

Every Independence Day reminds me of those days when as a child I would wait for this day for three reasons – One: Every time I would make a flag myself and hoist it too; Two: Me and my dad would stand in attention when the national anthem would play on television and we would loudly play patriotic songs on that day and Three: We would get a box of sweets from the multinational my dad worked for!

These memories are there to remain for a lifetime and I still remember how painstakingly I would make a paper flag with my own hands (had once even messed up by hoisting it upside down) and then getting up early in the morning to fix it on top of the house, making it sure it was visible to everyone around!
I would every time buy a cassette of patriotic songs and my dad would make it sure he played them loudly that morning (may be he also had that child in him), but yes we made it sure we celebrated this day with enthusiasm. The evening before and on the Independence Day we would make it sure that we stood in attention for the national anthem till the last word was sung, feeling the pride of being an Indian.

My dad used to get four small boxes of sweets every Independence Day (one for each one of us) and we would relish them (would also try retaining a piece of two for the next day). It had a special flavour blended with fervour of celebrating the spirit of Indian freedom.

Times have changed though that patriotism is still alive. It’s only that we have other ways to show that we do care through smses, facebook messages, and having patriotic songs as our caller tunes. But will this change India?

We often see poverty stricken children selling Indian flags. They are often ignored on traffic signals.

Need to give it a thought before its too late!

(Indian Independence Day is on August 15)