INDEPENDENCE DAY - SO WHAT ?!?

Some luminary thinker once said - for my mother keeps repeating it time and again, so it must be true - 'The Human Mind is strange, because it always craves for the exact things it doesn't have and looks at the neighbor's plate of food rather than relishing the dishes in front of it'. Not too long after she first said it - sometime before my B.Tech life, I realised its truth.
Today, five years hence, I see it materialising before me.

India was freed from the British clutches after a century of struggle in 1947. Everybody knows that and I shall not bore you with the story. Today, we celebrate the 65th commemoration of this freedom.

But wait, take a look around you. Do you feel that people are really 'commemorating' their independence? Popular television channels show snippets of journalists throwing simple questions as 'Who is Gandhiji?' or 'What is so special about 15th August?' at common folk who 'hang about' in the cities of our country. What do they say?
'Some freedom fighter' or 'I think India won freedom' would be the answer you would hear once in about eight or ten people.

Looking at this, I feel, have we truly given the credit that freedom deserves? Have we utilised this independence in the right way?

I wake up to attend the Independence day celebrations in my college - a formal 15-minute function followed by snacks. I am disgusted to see that hardly 15% of the college students have turned up. Where are the rest? Probably lazing around in their rooms.

Why this casual behavior? Why this callousness towards even the simplest of functions? I just happen to call sleepyheads peeking out of their rooms from the different hostels on the way to the aerospace block to attend the ceremony and receive replies like 'Yeah, will come...' or 'I might come....' or 'Will try....' and others of the sort. I can say, looking at their faces, that 3 out of 4 of them will fall right on their beds and go to sleep. 

What I fail to understand is the reason behind this callousness towards such events in our day-to-day life.

Wake Up my friends - This is your country. It is said that a country is 'developing' or 'developed'. How does such terminology come into effect? A nation's status is defined by the attitudes of its public. We, the citizens of India are the factor determining the image INDIA has in the global scenario. Thus, take care my friends - realize some facts - realize why we celebrate Independence Day, why we celebrate Republic Day, what is the significance of these celebrations, crack jokes on what elders say on such occasions, but also give a thought to what they say. 

Realize for a fact that we are a free country and that we have the power to make our own lives comfortable and thriving. We can make the best use of freedom only if we understand its importance and significance. Look around yourself friends, and think about people in Egypt, Libya, Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other misery-stricken countries. Realize the difference between their lives and yours. understand the meaning of freedom and its possibilities.
Re-awake, Re-arise, Realize!!

"When you are born, you cry and the world rejoices. Live your life in such a way that when you leave for the heavens, You rejoice and the world cries....."

- Anonymous

Note - This article is not directed at any single person or group of persons but is a reflection of my thoughts on some of the things happening around me.