India, independent?

Hot off the 'independent' press, on this day that marks India's Independence from British rule, some thoughts from a passionate spirit:

Destiny & its Discontents

“At the stroke of the midnight hour, while the world sleeps, India will awaken with Freedom..”- Jawaharlal Nehru, former Indian PM

These words of our first Prime Minister echoed through incipient India’s being, over half a century ago. If we’re lucky, our children may watch television footage of this powerful speech – forever etched in our world’s history - and heed the nostalgic fervor of our elders.

But – does anyone care? I wonder, as I stroll past the streets of Kerala’s capital city, and notice that the only Indian flag visible for a kilometer’s distance is at half-mast, lazily perched outside a state bank. Symbols may be bereft of substance, but when a country so “young” has jettisoned the spirit behind those symbols, we’ve accepted a tragic death without a whimper.

The reality is, most of us won’t care all that much, despite the polite reminders. Life in India forces us to consider August 15th as a momentary lapse from the daily grind of our working lives – IF we’re fortunate enough to be employed. But this existence is only for the upper crust of Indian society.

However, for the vast majority of our beautiful ‘swadesh,’ India’s “independence” figures low on their priority list for other reasons. Suddenly on one monsoon day, they notice white, orange and green colors interspersed with a spinning wheel. They may be more familiar with the spinning wheel; for some, it may be their sole source of income.

India has many grave and serious ills. In our modern, rapidly globalizing consumerist era, we await the latest cricket match not only to exult with Saurav and Sachin (IF they win), but also to scope out the latest Nokia, Hyundai and Pepsi advertisements. Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting things – but generally speaking, we Indians are often habitual over spenders, truth be told. We may have kicked out the British, but today we are virtual neo-slaves to the latter day mutants of the East India company.

This Independence Day, we should ask ourselves – what are we free from?