Independence Day 2024-Part I

Every 15th August is an opportunity to celebrate, to commemorate and to contemplate!

Greeting is a formality, but can it become an opportunity to contemplate, conserve and share the identity and experience of being Indian and Independent and an independent Indian. 

This is more than celebrating the independence from 200 years of oppression from the British, we have to remember it was close to a thousand years of invasion, oppression, violence and destruction from the immediate predecessors the Mughals to a multitude of Assassin squads that came in repeatedly to take away the riches and exploit the region, trying to destroy our identity and eliminate our culture, bringing us to the knees by subjugation and killing all hope.

But we stayed Indian all the way, albeit adopting new religions and traditions but still Indian at heart, spirt and soul. We still identify ourselves as Indians first.

It is a testament and a reminder that despite having embroiled in a continuous thousand-year war, the nation has not just managed to hold its identity, but actually carved an indelible legacy of resilience and independence while also managing to keep its spirit and soul untarnished all through its worst times only to re-emerge as a global force thanks to its partially tapped economic and knowledge might but mostly due to the enterprise of its people.

Now, imagine an India, 

An India that is unhinged by the trappings of colonial vestiges and unburdened by our own misgivings and meandering ways, an India united as one mighty force, powered by its strength of character, working together collectively for a better future and as a whole.

It will be the defining period of modern humanity a golden age as such, only matched by the great ancient periods of progress here in India, where the quintessential megapolis of Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Lothal, Dwaraka and Poompuhar all shone as the harbingers of an progressive civil society, where from amidst the still mysterious and undeciphered finds emerged the most powerful image of an empowered daughter, that can be seen as one of the greatest imagery to depict the times where women held center stage not as a tyrant queen or a despotic ruler, but as a confident contributor and custodian of society and its culture, an utopian ideal with possibly the first self-rule and social justice system of the ancient world which had no apparent God kings or segregated hierarchical dwellings, the proven model for the future, only perfected two thousand years beforehand. 

That is the legacy we have to ponder, probe, practice, protect, project and build to establish a whole new dimension of a new world order that is not only orderly and sane, safe and sustainable but also being inclusive and empowering for all. 

As a nation that has endured countless assaults without ever undertaking an unprovoked attack on any other nation.                                                                                                         As a nation that was mercilessly inflicted with a million cuts by the marauding looters yet managed to stitch together the indestructible fabric of knowledge, commerce and culture that still holds good.                                                                                                                          As a nation invaded from all sides and attacked on all fronts yet was still towering over them all with the scientific and spiritual knowledge, always replete with resourcefulness to rebuild and heal not just the region but entire humanity.

And despite losing so much wealth to the marauding invaders, it still managed to enrich the people and the world with astounding breakthroughs and possibilities for progress through its universities, the concepts of non-violence, respect for all sentient beings, universality and unity in diversity, and the grand sustainable harmonious living while dealing with an assembly line of invasions that never slowed down or tapered in their looting and ravaging pursuits.

It is so remarkable that, where the barbarians destroyed buildings they could never destroy the institutions, where they took away everything they could, they couldn’t take away the spirit that had the extraordinary power to reimagine and reinvigorate the lives and livelihoods under such dire circumstances, not once but thousands of times, that’s why the oldest known civilization is still the most vibrant and powerful agent of change and the most potent force of reorganization to this day. 

From being a predominantly agrarian, to still being a predominantly agrarian, but making extraordinary technological and technical accomplishments in the interim while battling floods, droughts, famines, wars, diseases and destruction, yet somehow managing to realign and adapt and wholesomely develop in so many aspects under immense pressure and tension.

And despite the bane of inner turmoil within the regions, factions and communities where instigated division always disrupted as fomented disunity, disarmed by hatred and destroyed by exploitation, India still has unequivocally contributed more to the world in terms of knowledge, labor, commerce, science and technology and equally in terms of furthering humanity through its futuristic concepts, culture and wisdom to the world more than any other country.

The question lingers as to how much has India benefited as a country and how many Indians have benefited from this immense knowledge and timeless wisdom?  

Today is a good day to think about this...