The journey towards Independence

We are celebrating our 70th Independence Day this year, which means we are Independent since last 70 years, free to follow our dreams, free from all kind of evil atrocities our country witness over centuries in past. But it actually gets me thinking. Are we really independent? Do we understand independence? 

What is Independence? Do we know the real meaning of Independence? According to Cambridge Dictionary, there are two meanings:

• Freedom from being governed or ruled by another country. 
• The ability to live your life without being helped or influenced by other people. 

Our country is free and not ruled or governed by any other country, so in that sense, India is independent. But, as per the second meaning, are we, the people of India, really independent? Another question raised here is about our country. India is not governed or ruled by any other country, but if we use the second meaning in context of our country, is our country really independent? Let’s discuss both the meanings for a country and an individual in detail. I am using India just as an example, because the same logic applies to almost all nations of this world. Similarly, the logic of individuals applies to almost all resident of this world.

Let’s take the example of our country. We say we are Independent, but actually we are dependent on other countries for many essential supplies, including fuel, the backbone of modern economics. You will be surprise to see the list of items we import (check it on http://www.commerce.nic.in/) as there are food grains, meat, wood, charcoal and other basic necessities listed, apart from luxury items like electronics and fashion. We are also dependent on other developed nations for technology related advancements in all fields. Our more than 80% of defense materials are coming from other countries or dependent on their technology. Effectively, we are dependent on other countries for fulfillment of our basic needs of Roti (food), Kapda (cloths) and Makaan (shelter). We can argue that our nation is fully capable and independent in these three basic necessities, as we produce more than enough food grains to feed the nation, enough cloths and houses for the people. But if you look closely, the production of these are highly dependent on technology, which is imported from other countries. The distribution of these is dependent on fuel, which again is imported. So, even if we produce enough food, we will not be able to feed the nation without help from outside. When we are dependent, we also get influenced by outside forces, as our foreign policy for any nation is directly linked with the trade we do and benefit we get from that country. We, as an Independent nation, sometime turn our eyes to other side, ignoring atrocities done by these countries because we need supplies from them, and standing against them is not in our “national” interest. How can this be independence? When we are so dependent on others, that we even formulate internal policies to suit their interest, how can we call us independent? 

Individual’s situation is also similar when it comes to Independence. We are social animal, and live all our lives in society. So, we are dependent on our society for all our needs. Can we survive in a place where we have to grow our food ourselves, weave our cloths and make our own shelter? Can we survive if we have to defend us on our own against all dangers, including animals and fellow humans? We won’t, and that is why we build a society where there are farmers, weavers, police etc to do specific roles for the entire society. We have created a dependent network of people who has no other option but to live with other’s dependency. I am not saying it is bad, in fact, this is the best strategy for survival, and tested successfully for centuries. But it is not independence. Apart from being helped, we are also influenced by others to live our life. We are influenced by our family, friends and society in general at every decision of our life. That again goes against the definition of independence. 

Just to put more prospective on the Independence Day celebration, I can safely say that we gained freedom 70 years ago to choose our own path towards Independence. But we did not become Independent on that day. Even after 70 years, we are still not fully independent. But we are continuously walking towards independence. We regularly hear and read about new domestic innovations in every field. These are nothing but small steps towards making India independent. It may take many more years, decades even, but we must not stop this journey. Not until we become fully independent on four basic sectors of our nation: Food, Clothing, Shelter and Defense. 

I wish you all a happy 15th August, let us enjoy our freedom and continue our journey towards Independence.