Every August 15th, makes us proud. Proud of being Indian, proud of our forefathers who fought for freedom, proud of what India is today! Most of us have been lucky that we were born in free India. The Quit India movement, the non cooperation movement, the uprising of 1857 have always been chapters in our history books.
15th August had always been special for me. During school days, the schedule would be very tight! Get up early in the morning, go to school. Whole school would be gathered in the parade ground. Since I was part of the school band, we would be wearing our band uniforms, sparkling white shirts and trousers. The flag hoisting would happen before 8 am in morning and after that the parade! After the parade there would speech from the guest of the day, generally ex-service men. They would tell us their stories of war and how one should love our country, a very patriotic speech. We used to be so charged up with the experience, that we would decide then and there and decide that all of us would be joining the Armed forces and serve our motherland.
As the years passed, things changed. A typical 15ht August started with getting up early (that’s just before 8am) and watches the flag hoisting at the red fort in Delhi. See the small parade that happened on the day and then the prime minister’s speech. This has been the routine for many 15th August’s till two years back. The 15th August 2006 and 2007 had been different. This was the first time so far that I had been out of the country on this day.
Celebrating 15th August is a very different experience outside our country. That’s really when you come to know what freedom means. Its just another day in the country you live in, you wont find Tiranga hoisted anywhere, you wont find school kids with Indian flags in their hands. Here I was, on 15th August 2007, 60 years later, working in Great Britain, the same country, which we declared independence from.
This day, I really gave it a thought. So many things have changed. 60 years before, When British left India, they left a country a very poor and dependent country. A country with abundant natural resource, but still dependent on every thing on to others. The picture is very different now. Now it’s a new country, a country with lot of young people who want to make a difference. A country that has a confidence, which it was lacking for last so many years. A confidence that we can be a super power, a will to compete with rest of the world. Now India is not just some third world country full of people, its biggest quality human resource destination, its biggest market for goods all over the world. No other country now can ignore India or take it for granted. Today we are working shoulder to shoulder with the people of developed countries in their own country and probably earning more than them.
Most might say we are still lacking and we should have progressed more than what we have, 60 years of Independence, I think the future was never as brighter. We are one country with most promising future. Though Information technology was what started shining, today, almost every industry is shining and growing at tremendous pace. With a promise like this and people who are set to prove it to the world, India is out there to conquer the world, conquer it like never before. This conquest is not with arms or bloodshed, but with economy and good will.
World, look out for us, Here we come!!
