Freedom Festival

 

Indian Calendar is filled with festivals. The first half is relatively sparse though we have a steady stream of celebrations for Sankranti (various regional versions), Holi, Baisakhi, Regional New Years, BuddhaPournima and others. After a lull in Monsoon and with the advent of the Holy Indian month of Shravan coinciding normally with the August month, we start celebrating festivals one followed by another. The celebrations go all the way till the 31^st of December making the second half of the year very busy.  As we start festivities in and around August, we also celebrate our Festival of Freedom on the 15^th of August.  

15^th of Aug invokes different memories for various generations. Those who were born before Independence and are still with us to celebrate the 75th Independence Day must have been in their childhood or early youth in 1947. I can imagine the excitement they must felt as a child and a sense of achievement as reflected by their parents and seniors or the earlier generations who really fought for independence.   Earlier Generations must have felt that all their troubles would have evaporated with the end of the British Raj.  But the generation which is now witnessing the 75^th Independence Day and also was present during the tryst with destiny in 1947 must have felt all their hopes and aspirations ended as a new set of indigenous colonists took over from the British. This generation and those born within the first 20 years of Independence have spent most of their active life struggling for opportunities for growth, struggling with scarcities of the basic necessities of life.  

Our generation that was born in the first half of the decade of the 70s has a completely different set of experiences about 15^th Aug. 15^th August meant rising early for school, buying flags, balloons, and other trinkets associated with Nationhood, Listening to the patriotic songs blared on loudspeakers at every square, attending flag hoisting ceremony at the school and spending rest of the day watching patriotic movies or just playing with friends. In our house, we used to make sweets to celebrate. Our textbook imbibed the greatness of a few leaders during the freedom struggle. Our generation had no idea about the various contributions and sacrifices of many other people during the freedom struggle.  We had history books delving into details about the freedom struggle while all the previous history was taught perfunctorily.  The exams, years, and data that we needed rote deglamorized History as a topic. Thus any deviation was very popular, for example, Standard IV history in Maharashtra which was focused on Shivaji was very popular.  But somehow the stress on freedom struggle in the history textbooks sometimes made people like me wonder about the experience of living in that period. The entire nation united for one cause: Freedom (just like how we unite only during the Cricket world cup ironically). I still remember the answer given by the contestant of Miss Universe: Madhu Sapre from India for a question asking what one wish she wanted to make to the almighty. She said she wished she was born during the freedom struggle and contribute. Many people still are not happy with the answer and feel that was the reason she did not win the contest and was relegated to the first runner-up position. But on the face of it, I agree with the excitement and experience that she must have imagined.  

As we grew into the college, India changed its tryst with destiny by following the path of liberalization and globalization. Indian youth in our generation took the path of a knowledge-driven economy and global careers. The majority had access to resources and commodities. The boom trickled down though not equally by any means, but it did bring about changes in both urban India and Rural Bharat.  Tier 2-3-4 Cities expected the same quality of life as in Metros. Villages transformed a bit. Though the last man in the pyramid especially in the rural agrarian economy dependent on Monsoons and urban poor living in sub-human conditions still faced some fight for survival.  But for many families, globalization brought in aspirations to compete with the best in the world. India was searching for its rightful place in the world order. The consumption and available resources brought in hedonistic tendencies.  15^th August festival turned into a day of Picnic for our generation who did not have botherations of school /college attendance (though it was added as we turned into parents).  Marketeers were using this opportunity to sell anything under the sun: Movies, Food, Travel, Shopping, and so on. Remember the Big Bazaar sales.   

As aspiring India, especially the Millennials and GenZ took over, they had no baggage from the past be it independence movement or license raj scarcities, they pushed the envelope further and got a regime change which promised them assertion and freedom from corruption, policy paralysis, and terrorism (especially endless trauma after 9/11 through blasts, terror attacks). Though the regime still flounders on the economic front though one must admit the bitter pill of GST or Covid-induced recession, aspirational India has found more voice and meaning of 15^th Aug. Celebration is more about assertion and expression of original ideas. I am not sure if we are united and inclusive in this celebration. There is still one segment that feels alienated on religious grounds. But it’s the time for all to mend fences and unite as we do during a patriotic movie or Cricket match. 

Now it’s the time to dream big. We need to grow our economy, we need to be innovative and have companies that would compete with the best in the world. We need to impart quality education and ensure development reaches the last man in the pyramid: Agrarian rural laborers and urban slum dwellers and so on. More importantly, we need to be united across all our divides in this path of development. Let’s be together in the Celebrations of festivals dedicated to the freedom of India.