Independence Day, Reckoning!

 Our Nation’s 75th Independence Day!

Wishing a day of gratitude for the efforts that went into making this nation possible and a day of reckoning for what was supposed to be and what we ended up with, while pondering on what can be.

The 15th of August 1947 marked the breakaway from both the colonial rule as well as an internal strife, yet the evils and perils of both linger on to this day. 

But, what we have to realise is the fact that blood was shed and the martyrdom and sacrifice of millions prevailed over the imperial forces and the invaders and marauders many times in the past too.

And yet this was an opportunity to rise together as a nation and march towards a golden era of the best in humanity, replete with reasoning, rationality and great resourcefulness, but more importantly the conscientious and conscious way of living that so defined India where humanity seems to be doing some soul searching for millennia and has been reaching out to the deepest, the most profound and groundbreaking truths while inspiring the most illuminating knowledge while on the quest for eternal wisdom in the most sustainable, eloquent and holistic manner.

This day reminds not only of the triumph and change of guard in insignia but more importantly the necessity for us to do away with the chains of domination, discrimination and oppression of all kinds that suppressed the knowledge for over 1000 years of external invaders rule, with the twin daggers of oppressive corruption on one hand and the impoverishment of the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, financial, social, environment, ecological and ethical realms which was slowly but surely draining the spirit of India, leading to an acute depletion of Indian human capital and was much more devastating and telling than the trillions of dollars of wealth the British alone took away, even discounting what the other previous invading marauders who tried to pillage and ravage thousands of years of our culture, heritage and progress in order to establish their rule and ways here while looting all that they could of any material value, even our temples only because they were store houses of valuable art and sculpture in the name of Religious and ethnic cleansing.

Thankfully, none of them truly succeed and the soul of India remained intact and in the 75 years we have made extraordinary progress even with the inherited system and that along with the inherited bureaucracy, corruption and deep rooted social evils have been the biggest barrier to true inclusive growth of which we are capable of but haven’t because the imperialist legacy in the form of systematic divide and rule and political, religious and casteist polarisation have endured in the indigenous form succeeding in mere transfer of powers from the British to the Indian, unfortunately most of who turned out to be the same wolves dressed as sheep intent on not just shearing but herding by any devious means always willing to indulge in butchery and tannery to harvest every aspect. 

And that’s the only reason, despite the tremendous economic progress, the real social -welfare progress does not reflect in the overall infrastructure and quality of life, which is lacking and showing up as the harsh unchanging reality for the majority who despite being in the middle are still in the fringes just like the great slums and ghettos seen in major cities and the many thousands of villages and villagers and tribals who remain marginalised and it is the same unfortunate disparity that we see manifested in every single aspect of our society and nation today.

Patriotism should fuel more than jingoism, for it to be a powerful tool of transformation, it should invoke a sense of purpose and commonality that transcends oneself rather than mere hatred for the oppressors.

The greater struggle is to root out the evils of oppression, corruption and communalism or other isms and for us see ourselves as Indians first with humanity being our foremost identity, where we, as rational humans are expected to question what binds us in ignorance and impoverishment of any kind.

Our struggle requires us to once again collaborate to fight ignorance and misinformation as much as corruption and corrosion of values, we have to educate and facilitate empowerment of all those we share our society with, while living in harmony, with empathy and understanding of what our freedom truly means and knowing well what it means to lose it in any form and to become ever more vigilant and aware of when it is in danger while also being swift and agile enough to fend off the offenders in order to maintain what all our ancestors struggled for and for what they envisioned as our destiny as a free thinking and independent nation of people who can live in peace and progress.

Let this day spur us on to get rid of the limitations and once again breakaway the chains that stifles our freedom and to become truly free and independent.

Just to test how we fare and how we can answer those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

Ten questions we must ask ourselves to test the levels of independence and freedom.

1. On freedom: Is there oppression in the society, offices and public spaces?
2. On Discrimination: Is there discrimination of any sort in the society, offices and public spaces?
3. On Rights: Do you know the constitution of India? Which is the most important right for you and according to the constitution?
4. On Governance : Are you aware of who governs us at the municipal, district, state and national levels, how many times have you met, communicated or interacted with any of them or they have tried to communicate to you beyond the voting day?
5. On Merit: Do you think the politicians and ministers are qualified to govern us? We know what to expect and how to gauge the doctors, engineers, lawyers, nurses and MBAs? Do we know or have checklist to test our MLAs and Ministers? Remember they are lawmakers and they govern us!
6. On Liberty: How best have you used your right of free speech and how do you rate your freedom of speech and expression? Have you taken up a cause or a stance on something that mattered? Of course something amongst so many upheavals in the recent past mattered to us, where did you raise your voice, opinion and right beyond the social media?
7. On Respect : how well are you respected in a government office or by a government official on duty elsewhere?  It’s an easy question? Answers might be a bit complicated? Are we even like… supposed to be treated with respect? 
8. On Equality: when dealing with a politician, government official or high ranking officer in any department, is there parity in the way you are treated say when compared to someone influential or in position of power or a so called celebrity?
9. On Accountability: Are you a tax payer? Well you are if you are a consumer, so are you a direct taxes payer? So you file your taxes and these departments can peruse and pursue it to a cause and hold you responsible for any deviations, right? So do you have any say in knowing what happens to your taxes, GST and loads of indirect taxes? Do you get a report from the local, commercial and central taxes or the AG’s office ? And Do you see any improvement in the infrastructure which is supposed to be the reason taxes are collected, supposedly so? We know the answer and we compare it to the previous rule…Were the British good at Enginering? Actually it was the Indians who did the construction for the whole British empire in India, and they were so much better, why is it all so bad now?? Ouch that hurts bad... The back and the Ego as well. 
10. On Duty/ Responsibility: Are we responsible citizens and are we worth our vote? The first part of the question is self regulating and I am sure all law abiding or wanting to law abide, yes, we do when we are abroad. And yes there is a lot to ponder, but assuming we are law abiding citizens, the question becomes more interesting and So, the question should be, Are we worth the sacrifices of millions of lives who wanted us to lead a life of independence, freedom, liberty and safety?  While all public offices from the President to the PMO to all ministers, members and elected, nominated and the entire government staff of India in every conceivable department from defence, to law and order to education, from electricity to external affairs, from Space to civil service, from bureaucrats to Public sector banking and from roads to transportation departments are all salaried employees to the people of India and the entire Indian government machinery runs on our taxes and the money borrowed on our stability as people and the money invested on our robustness as a nation which we make as it’s people.!now ask.. Are the staff in service and offices courteous, respectful, and dutiful to us the people of India who pay them and essentially are their employers? Are they respectful to at-least the elders, senior citizens, women, children and finally to us the people who pay the taxes, and even all the retired people who in their service years have toiled and tolled away on the taxes having given so much more of their lives in making of this nation? Are the office bearers, the officers, the managers, MLAs, Ministers and Legislative Members and Judicial officers, the law and order and municipal corporation officers courteous and respectful to you and your family, friends and the neighbours of all kinds who are the society and together the citizens who make the nation?

Depending on the number of questions you could answer with a AYE or NAH..

The straight forward YES and NO is the answer to our conscience and if we answer the majority with a clear conscience and say No, we are still independent but are not enjoying our independence and freedom.

On the other hand in terms of cost to quality which we all gauge at every consumerist drive and know well how to judge, in that respect, we are being served bad by the services department for which we have been paying a premium.                                                     Just imagine how a typical five star hotel treats you if you pay just a small portion of your taxes to them, of course along with GST and Service charge and yes, maybe the tip is included but you can still tip generously, it is after all a five star hotel they need tips to operate.

Now, Imagine how a seven star hotel treats you when you pay that extra bit, No, not the extra tip, the actual extra charge. It is going to be worth it for sure.

Now consider a decent airliner, they too treat us better even though we are with them for a short ride, but imagine with our government services, that is a lifetime commitment, we are supposed to pay taxes if we earn even after we are retired and have to file taxes till we die if we earn. When it comes to insurance, it is an interesting contradiction that somehow we are all willing to accept, it is one of the great paradoxes of our times. 

They will decline you for being old at sixty years, right from where you need health insurance perhaps the most, but that’s a different topic we cannot bring health and well-being here, it’s our prerogative being well even in a self proclaimed socialist republic as it doesn’t guarantee you social welfare or universal healthcare or insurance cover your health. At least not yet in the most practical form. 

But, even otherwise, coming back to the tax and services for being taxed.

We pay high taxes, even the road taxes are high, the public transportation is not cheap and the economies of scale look great enough to write off some substantially important infrastructure expenses which can be easily reclaimed in the expected revenue model.

But somehow it only seems to work for private or many politician owned connecting roads  and highways and near airports and important junctions where the fast tag powered tolls seems good enough to sustain that model. 

On plain sight,

Look at what we have made of the country, look at how it fares compared to even small countries in terms of public infrastructure, our roads, streets, pavements, the parks, the public transportation, the public spaces, our ponds, lakes, rivers, our garbage and waste management, our public utilities and amenities and our government schools, our government hospitals and finally the general living conditions of an average citizen and those in the low income group and the less privileged and the marginalised and the ignoble and the ignored, the abandoned and also the tax payer and tax paying and the to be taxable soon and the taxable but not paying coz privileged and know how not to pay, lot??

Now, considering these simple and limited facts.

Can all of us or any of us proudly proclaim BHAARAT MAATA KI JAI? VANDHE MAATARAM ? Or proudly Sing SAARE JAHAN SE ACCHA, or JANA GANA MANA believing and knowing it to be true in the same breath as those who sang it as a reassurance and justification to lay their careers, families and lives for the nation, believing it be the foundation for making our future better?

Can we say JAIHIND with the same pride and purpose as the soldiers and participating civilians and those who willingly laid down their lives for the cause in foreign countries when they could have chosen to live a cushy life as expats attending Pravasi diwas’s and hobnobbing with noble minded politicians and the know it all movie stars and celebrities?

They chose to sacrifice everything and die in order to give our nation a fighting chance, many unsung heroes died hanged for treason in countries where they could’ve lived on and claimed government medals of honours for just surviving in the shadows, but they chose to go down fighting and proclaiming the message of a free nation loudest in the gallows, including the one who coined the term “JAIHIND”?Chempaka Raman Pillai of the INA.

What of those like the one who rallied millions for the INA to live with self respect and dignity, Netaji and the ones who despite their sharp intellect and immense knowledge chose to die young harbouring the dreams of a new nation, the likes of Chandrashekar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, V C Chidambaram, Rani Laxmibhai, Tanita Tope, Maulana Azad, Velu Nachiyar and Mangal Pandey and the many millions who fought the British and unspoken and oft forgotten millions who fought the other invaders before them. 

It is not to us, the voters and the tax payers and the law abiding citizens alone that the government and its staff are to be answerable, 

It is to them, “the millions who sacrificed their everything,”that we and the entire government machinery and every single politician and political party is answerable to and accountable for.  

INDEPENDENCE IS DEPENDENT ON ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT, VIGIL AND PARTICIPATION IN PROTECTING IT.

FREEDOM IS EVEN DEARER AND IS NEVER FREE, IT ALREADY COST US MILLIONS OF LIMBS, FAMILIES AND LIVES AND ONLY DUTIFUL RESPONSIBILITY CAN SUSTAIN IT.

JAIHIND !