Happy Independence, or Non-dependence ? (Part-2) The Interdependence day!
This 15th of August 2023, marking the Independence. How does one see it today ? Is it a happy day or sad day ? How important is it?
These questions cannot be ansered without due consideration to what we went through as a nation and where we are now and considering where we stand in terms of realising our potential as a nation, where we can we possibly and realistically be?
We can mark the day the way we want but cannot forget the struggle of millions who laid down their lives and sacrificed their lives to get us the independence and the progress that has come with the independence. So, a thing to ponder is… What we and our government and institutions can make of this independence to realise a society and nation that fosters development and equity of health, education, opportunity, progress and well-being and how can we do to get ourselves, the society, the environment and the ecosystem to become and remain conducive for sustainable progress of the maximum number of people here in India. That’s the best way to respect, remember, learn and celebrate the Independence Day. A day of reckoning, reasoning, rationality and reorganising ourselves in alignment with what will help realise the ideal society and country the martyrs of the freedom struggle envisioned and laid their lives down for.
Everything from the decisions, the policies, and the actions and response of the government and its agencies. While questioning the convenient indecisiveness of the majority, we don’t know what is happening in places like Manipur and neither do we have the solutions, but we know for sure what is happening in our neighbourhood, our streets, our lakes, the environment and the ecosystem that sustains us all.
Not everyone in the struggle for independence were affected equally, there were people who lived in denial, acceptance, ignorance, illusion and defiance for multiple reasons, but not a single person can rationalise the bigotry, the racism, the hatred, marginalisation, the exploitation and abuse of power and the mindless violence and oppression that enabled a stranglehold over more than 300 million Indians and many more across Asia and the world.
What do we lose by ignoring versus what do we gain by understanding and engaging in ways to help, improve or mitigate by merely raising our voice for a cause?
That’s the choice we have the freedom to do and yet by remaining silent believing that ignorance is bliss is the worst form of self-expression and bigotry where the very concept defies all logic on why do we even hold independence and freedom sacred and sacrosanct to a society where we do exist in convenient collaborations from marriage to managing our lifestyle using people to facilitate it all every stage in civil society, even if we don’t necessarily co-exist as it would require at a fundamental level?
It was the threat to the fabric of family, communities, ways of our society and our ecosystem which clamped down our sense of well-being that prompted the freedom struggle here and the world over.
That is what forced the rational minded to get around the basic human rights violation as the rallying point for the struggle.
Weighing the current situation of our society, the equity, the environment, the ecology, the economic and socio-cultural issues and gaps and how it affects people, outside and within?
Picking one’s battles is smart, but knowing what our battles are is even more important, and intelligently anticipating and mitigating while eliminating the threats in a proactive manner is the wisest way to fight, where one can fight without the fear of not having a reason that resonates, where it is not damage control and firefighting but rather weeding out before it becomes a threat and establishing and upholding the ethos of humanity and co-existence.
But that requires engagement and consistency in effort and striving to ensure it stays that way.
First and foremost, we have to assess where we stand vis a vis the problems and situations around us, and if there is something we can actually do by taking a stand and pursuing it,
And in this sense we know we don’t exist in isolation nor do we have the impenetrable insulation to guard against all odds and challenges, it’s about risk assessment and the trade off, where we know we cannot afford to take it lightly as we go about our daily lives, the storm that brews elsewhere is headed our way and is only a matter of time, the butterfly effect is real and inevitable, so for all the intellectual prowess and the information overload where we hold the world at our finger tips, or rather the devices that facilitate it, at our fingertips, it is no rocket science that requires a Ph.D. to understand the pros and cons, the perceived threat of ethnic cleansing is not as imminent as the environmental consequences, but they are both related more intricately than what is apparent.
More than the ever, the increasing problems stemming from unfettered exploitation of the natural resources and environment meant increased uncertainties and adding fuel to this is the never ending conspiracy theories that makes it easier to blame someone else, with such a lack of understanding, little do we realise, sometimes it is a direct consequence of our own misuse of our own freedom and independent action and oftentimes our inaction, sometimes our indifference, sometimes it is the inability to empathise and resolve, while helping facilitate the indiscriminate abuse of power, the gross disregard for life around us and the narrow tunnel vision at the cost of the very fabric that holds everything.
Does it sound oppressive and inhumane, the traits that we associate with the invaders the barbarians and the mindless marauders?
How do we stack up against them in the way we treat our environment or the people around us?
We take it all for granted as if we have a divine sanction to abuse, exploit and enable our own well-being ?
Well, that’s the larger battle, unlike the Stockholm syndrome this Systemic exploitation syndrome where we are willing counterparts albeit in varying degrees are none the less guilty and dangerous.
We must decide what the problems are and how we can help resolve or raise a concerted voice against the concerns that is against humanity, against life and against nature?
We must decide what is the rallying point and central force for the present problems that is affecting some and the biggest threats for the future for all?
We don’t just fight for ideologies, for religion or for political differences,
We fight for reasons that are integral to survival, sustenance and revival, the important aspects that is essential to live with dignity and progress with opportunity and without discrimination, disrespect or disregard for the less fortunate or less privileged or the marginalised, we fight for what is important to existence itself, that’s why it is called a revolution.
And for knowing the battles, it is important to be perceptive and present with a honest and sincere understanding of the impact on the present and the future, forgiving the past but never forgetting the lessons while forging the way for the future.
It is completely dependent on how evolved our ideals, our vision and our understanding of what we should and can be.
One thing is for sure, we are not immune to the forces of nature and the forces of cause and action where inaction too as an entropy will come back to claim and destroy what we don’t actively hone, retrieve and protect, be it our character, our conscience, our intellect, our health, our relationships, our homes, our jobs, our culture, our communities or our country and more importantly our environment and planet.
Indecision and Inaction are equally bad and by doing that we gradually become a part of the problem and the problem invariably will affect us in the same or worst ways in a very short time.
Are we Independent? Do we act independent?
Are we dependent? Does independence reflect in the way we work and live? Don’t know about independence, but there is interdependence for sure at all levels and for all people.
We can be proud of our nation or not be proud of our nation,
But to what extent can our forefathers who sacrificed their lives for our future be proud of us and for what?
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