What does freedom mean to you, we asked. The answers were as diverse as the country we live in — from wishing an end to social evils to waking up late, from a world without discrimination to the right to party hard. Here’s Youngistan’s take on freedom in their own words on I-Day
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Vasundhara Gupta
Modern High School for Girls, Class XII
Freedom is when a beggar is able to attend a conference and voice his opinion in front of the nation. Freedom is when a woman is able to walk down a street at night without being nervous or afraid. Freedom is when a child can choose not to follow a norm and not feel like an outcast. Freedom is when various countries come together and work as one, sharing a common language called art. Freedom is not restricted to an individual, caste, city, country, or the world. It goes beyond that…to something far more spiritual, when your soul is free.
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Aradhita Saraf
Modern High School for Girls, Class XII
The capability to be true to yourself, the ability to believe, think, want, live and die — that is what freedom means to me. I am free when I can chase my dreams with absolutely no hindrance or obstacle from society. Freedom is when anyone can travel at will to any corner of the planet, no matter what class they belong to, what the colour of their skin is, what their financial status is, what religion they follow or which region they come from. To be able to listen to my soul is real freedom for me.
Dare to hope? Slide up every cloud
Surrender to the rain. Dream out loud.
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Shantam Jain
St. James’ School, Class XII
Food for thought — did our country’s “freedom fighters” have the picture of the current state of affairs in mind when they sacrificed their lives to free India from foreign rule? When we think of freedom, we should automatically think of the sacrifices made by our leaders in their endeavour to free India. We have undoubtedly achieved freedom from foreign rule and are constitutionally sovereign, but we have still not been freed from the evils of society such as corruption, poverty, gender bias, social power and economic discrimination. The day we are able to forget the differences between us and bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots, we will be freed in the true sense of the word. I would like to quote a famous saying from The Dark Knight, “We stopped looking for monsters under our bed, when we realised that they were inside us.” It is this evil that we need to kill after which we shall be truly freed!
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Arusha Dasgupta
Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Class XI
Freedom is power. With greater freedom, come greater responsibilities. Freedom means the world to me. The very thought of freedom gives me wings to fly. To me, freedom is not just going out, clubbing and partying. To me, freedom does not mean free sex, it means I should be able to judge my friends with more maturity. We should be encouraged and appreciated to think and work independently. Originality of ideas should be rewarded. To be free, you must feel you are in a place “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high”.
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Koustubh Ramakrishnan
Apeejay School, Park Street, Class XI
Freedom to me means the liberty to let my creativity and imagination take over the simplest of my day-to-day activities so that I can perform those activities the way my imagination wants to. For example, I want to use a teleporter to reach school every morning within seconds, but the world of science says “No, you cannot do that”. All those “nos”, “you cant’s” and so on gradually curb creativity and one gets “programmed” to work the way the world works. I want the freedom to find out new ways of doing things and implementing them without voices of dissent.
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Somrit Mittra
Calcutta Boys’ School, Class XII
Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains. Freedom to me is to be able to choose my own path, to carve my own steps to reach my goal. I should not be restricted by others’ thoughts or by thoughts for others. All said and done, it is my life and I should be living it my way. But then, I should not forget that my freedom ends where others’ begins. Guidance is always necessary to be able to achieve any goal. At the same time, the restrictions should be valid . Only then my mind can be without fear and I can live life to the fullest for myself and for the benefit of others.
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Trisha Kampani
La Martiniere for Girls, Class XII
What does freedom mean to me? I asked myself this question as I sat down to write the reply. To me, freedom is nothing but the power to dream. As Rudyard Kipling put it: “If you can dream — and not make dreams your master”. One must achieve one’s thoughts and dreams. Today I can think of becoming anything in my life because I have the freedom to work towards it, something that no girl could imagine 65 years ago. Freedom is the most valuable gift given to us and last time I checked, I learnt that I have all the freedom I need, to make a difference.
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Mainak Dasgupta
Don Bosco, Park Circus, Class IX
We teenagers are pressured in various ways. Everyone seems to have high expectations from us. Stepping out of this world of hypocrisy and pressure is freedom for me. Even 65 years after Independence, India is still bound by such social evils as child labour and child marriage. Getting rid from these evils is what freedom is all about.
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Aniruddha Talukdar
Apeejay School, Park Street, Class XI
Freedom to me is synonymous with freedom of speech and expression. The Indian Constitution grants the citizens the freedom of speech. In the present times, India is witness to scams, daylight robberies, murders and molestation. How many of us exercise our freedom of speech against these evil practices and incidents? There are discussions on TV channels, columns in newspapers but the one man who can make a difference does not speak. The common man cannot and does not muster the courage to exercise the freedom to bring about change. Why? Is he not aware of the freedom or how to exercise it? Freedom, for me, is when we exercise our rights without fear and hold our heads high. That will be the day when we will walk out free from the jail of corruption and wrong practices.
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Adrija Ghosh
Modern High School for Girls, Class XI
Freedom to me is dancing to my heart’s content. Gleeful or mournful, dancing brings about an instant change in my disposition. I enter a trance where all I am conscious of is the music flowing through my veins. My body starts to move with this enchanting flow and slowly my surroundings fade into oblivion as I allow the music to take absolute control over me. My mind is now free of emotions — it is in a deep sea of tranquillity. My body is no longer guided by my mind, it moves on its own free will. As for the soul, it now escapes into the ultimate state of joy, peace and freedom.
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Upasana Roy
The Heritage School, Year 1 (IB Diploma Programme)
A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we’re only dreaming
I was awestruck the first time I heard this song from Aladdin. Every time I listened to it, I felt a sense of freedom, of independence and of hope. Freedom — the word is thrown around so nonchalantly. I don’t think freedom has anything to do with being allowed to party every day or spending money like we’re ATMs. Being able to differentiate between right and wrong, enjoying our freedom to the fullest while building a good character and stable personality is what freedom means to me. Mahatma Gandhi had said: “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes”. Freedom is being yourself.
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Kaustuv Bose
Don Bosco, Park Circus, Class XII
To be free does not necessarily mean to be free from the tyranny of others, it means as much to be free from our own tyranny. To be free means a girl can step out onto any street without being hounded by eve-teasers. To be free means a marriage in any part of the country is not determined by the bank balance of the bride’s father. To be free means education for all.
