Thursday, October 03, 2013

Pondering on Freedom...

It was another late night commute in the bus.

I boarded many transit buses n finally I got a bus directly to my destination.

I quickly boarded it, thankfully, I got a seat as well. Feeling happy, I sat and started reading a book as usual.

There happened to be a daily-wager from UP in the bus. I couldn't get the full context but the local people around him were trying to push him to a separate league. They were questioning his Benglur quotient and he seems to have an above average score to his experience. They were branding him intelligent.

These local people were trying to question him in Hindi (yes... irony...) n were very good at it. At the end, one of them said 'ಪರವಾಗಿಲ್ಲಪ್ಪ! ಇವನಿಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಯಾವ್ ಯಾವ್ ಸ್ಟಾಪು ಎಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲಿದೆ ಅಂತ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಏನ್ ಸಿಗತ್ತೆ ಅಂತ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಆದ್ರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾತ್ರ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. '.

This actually triggered various topics among them. It started from outsiders, and then they started cribbing about the lethargy of the locals and it reached the inflation and finally about the country politics... One man started cribbing that the country would've been better had it still been under the British till today... All these wicked, corrupt politicians are selling this glorious country for selfish motives. Bleh bleh bleh...

I, as always was silent reading the book but the disturbance made me close it. I alighted at my stop and started contemplating on the thoughts they were discussing.

One should notice that for him to express that 'this country would've been better had it still been in British rule' the right to express the same is obtained by the freedom what our forefathers fought for. Had they remained silent, this guy wouldn't have got an opportunity to even say those words. He would've been in jail had he said anything against the government.

Our generation doesn't know the value of actual freedom as it was known for those who really fought during freedom struggle. You'll know the value only when you lose it.

Also, if you're so concerned about the country, you would've elected the right candidates (if only... well, that's another story...) and not crib about after voting out the wrong candidate term after term. Yeah! I'm talking of Utopia.

Before this post turns preachy, I just want you to ponder over the above questions and  think about the real value of freedom.