The August of our Lives

If there is one month when the words patriotism and freedom strikes a chord in the minds of us
Indians it is without doubt the month of August. As the print media, the vocal media, the
visual media discuss topics with reference to our independence and freedom struggle; and as
messages on social media start pouring in, starting from a trickle and graduating to a flood, an
entire nation goes to the edge of euphoria.

This has, for many years, become an annual affair and the intensity of the euphoria seems to be
escalating as each year passes. As a writer-observer I often wonder about the relevance or
otherwise of this ritual. Of course I am a proud Indian and I ardently bow to our earlier
generation for giving us the vibrant country we today live in. My purpose of enquiry is slightly at
a different angle what, after all , is the freedom that we all want and how should we handle it?

Our country is free from the foreign rule which plagued us for centuries. But after seven volatile
yet forward thrusting decades, what is the freedom that we seek?

Are we as a nation seeking freedom of choice? Is it the freedom of speech? Or is it the freedom
from corruption? Or maybe freedom from bias?

The answer may not be as easy as it may seem. In fact my perception is that freedom is more of
a personal attribute that each of us have. For some freedom of speech takes a high priority
while for some the freedom to express themselves using art or the audio visual mode may be of
prime importance. For many of us freedom of choosing our leaders, our life partners, our
marital orientations or simply the clothes that we wear could be primary. In fact for some of us
Indians the freedom to roam around and enjoy after eight oclock in the evening may be more
central while for many others the freedom to just be oneself may take centre stage.

But messed up in these varying degrees of spectrum of definitions of freedom, I must emphasise
that we all must savour about our ability to think constructively about the freedom we already
have. Freedom for anything may be a right in its initial stages but after a while, it becomes our
responsibility to upgrade ourselves to a level where we have to ensure that this freedom
available to us is not misused or that it does not later corrupt us.

A Freedom to raom around at night may be fine but if such freedom leads to crimes and chaos
and discomfort to others, this freedom gets corrupted. Similarly the freedom to use vulgar
language on TV shows can be something to fight for, but then if not checked, then a decade
later, we may end up being a foul mouthed society.

Freedom then is a concept not only of the right to have it, but more so about the responsibility
it puts on us of ensuring that it does not degrade or deteriorate our society.

CA Rajiv D Khatlawala