~ Reflections ~

What do you do when you want to break an existing norm, but don't want to hurt the sentiments of someone you care...  Let the person stay under the illusion that you agree with their thought ? Or make you stand clear ?  Where does one draw the line.. will the stance remain eclipsed forever... At one end, in my head, I am quite clear on what I believe.. But at the same time, I don't think I have the courage to take the stand and explain it... Clearly, to be able to pull it off, you need courage or clout !

Though these lines were written ages ago, I am still waiting for a time when all of us truly imbibe these words, and are proud of the nation we are a part of. This is, actually, my anthem. Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high  Where knowledge is free  Where the world has not been broken up into fragments  By narrow domestic walls  Where words come out from the depth of truth  Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection  Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way  Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit  Where the mind is led forward by thee  Into ever-widening thought and action  Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

We are all born in different homes... with different cultures and habits.. functions and functionalities.. But the one thing that seems to bind us all is the thought that our parents are outdated and need to update their outlook in life.. What most of us tend to ignore is that it is because of these same set of people that we are able to think the way we do... It is the freedom that they have given us which has enables us to question everything... even them.... How easily we forget our roots.... especially when we are in full bloom....

Independence       noun in·de·pen·dence \ˌin-də-ˈpen-dən(t)s\ : freedom from outside control or support : the state of being independent Each of us have a different expectation from our country, and hence, our definition of Independence differs basis our circumstances and experiences. While a large chunk of the Indian population was striving for Independence from Britishers in 1947 (what eventually become the Indian Independence Day), a substantial group of people were striving for a corruption free nation in 2011-12. Though we are all born in the country, our choice of what we associate with the country's Independence varies. While my neighbour who has witnessed the freedom struggle against the British will cherish the sheer independence to do as she pleases, the current generation will cherish the independence to say as they please (something most of us take for granted nowadays).  All I am trying to say is our symbol for Independence provided by...

What I miss about my childhood the most (of course I miss the idea of not having to assume any responsibilities... duh..) is the freedom to think. Not like I've been chained to an outlook, or that an attitude has stuck to me.. But the supposed logic, and practicality that we tend to attain with age (is that what is erroneously called wisdom ?!?), is what is responsible for our lack of ingenuity... the lack of thinking out of the box.... We have regimented our outlook and thought process with dos & don't, the right & the wrong, the reality & the dream...  And somewhere, maybe unknowingly, we inculcate the same in our children... So when they ask why they can't fly, all we say is that they'll fall down on the ground... without realizing that we are actually clipping their wings...

What happens when you suddenly break free... The realization that you were caged so far suddenly dawns upon you... As though... I was so used being in the cage, that I didn't know of a world beyond it... That the walls were where it all ended... But the most painful is when there is a creak in the wall, and you can see what you are missing out on...