Celebrating Independence the Millennial Way

It’s been almost 70 years since the nation was set free of the rule of Britishers and we have since enjoyed the term and celebrations that have come along with it. What continues to still perplex my senses is the fact that the word ‘independence’ holds different meanings to different people, especially in a colorful nation as ours. The interpretations go much beyond the three colors which compose the flag, stretching from literal to philosophical to ethereal to experiential and beyond.

What is true freedom/independence?

I grew up seeing Independence Day as being synonymous to flag hoisting both at school and at home. The school ceremony also involved skits each year where senior students would enact the story of freedom fighters, which the teachers hoped would instil us with love and pride for the nation. We also had a marching competition among the four different houses yellow; red; green and blue, ending with a prize ceremony for the excellently done march by the respective house.

At home, we would sometimes take part in the talent competitions that would be organised by the colony heads, comprising of art; elocution and poetry where each child would show utmost enthusiasm and a zest to win. As I delve deep to understand the kind of emotion the aforesaid filled me with, I am a little confused. Yes I was educated well about the turn of events as it took place, knowing about the heroes and their sacrifices, but I do not think there was more to it back then. Well yes, it was not possible for me at 12 to understand and think of independence as freedom the way that I am thinking of it now at the double figured age.

Today, to the millennial mindset, freedom means so much, beginning with embracing one’s own self in the weird moulded shape that we are, along with embracing the others in their true evolutionary manner as well. The digital media to most provides a liberty to express and impress and get rid of our distress, the keypad making us all feel like warriors in a textual world. Freedom includes understanding what the constitution has granted each one of us- freedom of expression & speech; of assembly without arms; of forming associations; of moving freely throughout or Indian territory; of residing anywhere and of practicing any profession. Once the understanding comes, acceptance and interpretation follow and then comes the practice.

Our generation struggles with so much, most of it with our own kind, the previous generations to whom we seem utterly rebellious and non-conforming. As the generation gap widens, we see the beauty in difference and they see the distance growing bigger, scaring them of what lies beyond the narrow limits within which they have lived their entire lifetime. We the explorers trying to discover the unknown, our thoughts wandering off the edges of the world; our dreams coming alive in a parallel universe and our souls mating in kaleidoscopic dimensions. The taboos of the older times have become the bible of some today, the unsaid or curtailed from before has now become a popular topic of debate and what scared earlier has now become worth sharing only to pave paths of growth for future.

As we gradually move forward, in our mundane lives, almost unnoticeably we millennials are bringing about a revolution. We are coming out in the open, honestly displaying the many colors beyond the black and white, craving more and pushing ourselves to achieve that and creating new meanings to terms like independence and happiness that were once perhaps only flat and 2D in nature.  We are asking questions, unafraid of the answers, getting hurt and standing up again, and yet going on unperturbed because that is what liberty is.  The freedom to move on or stop, the freedom to choose, to be there for ourselves and each other, to be vocal and let go, to get angry and tear down monuments of stone, to be ecstatic and build castles of candy and believe that everything is possible.

We are not idealists, we know how the world has functioned in the past, we are just people who believe it’s not too late to create one of our own and escape sometimes. We are travellers, traversing and creating stories of our own, not giving up but trying to create something as close to Utopia as possible, with the knowledge that Utopia is a fantasy.

Weekend getaways, flower bands during gigs, tattooed hearts and our lives in poetry are what make us today’s millennials – free to celebrate who we are. We are afraid sometimes, and we do break down, we laugh until our heads spin and we always do is- GO ON !

So here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Independence Day ! Power to all who are one of the aforesaid, celebrate your freedom and go on doing what you are, it's unique and beautiful and free just the way it's meant to be.