MY IMAGINATION OF FREEDOM

FREEDOM THAT I WANT


Everybody is happy now a days. Happy, because we are celebrating our independence of 60 years. Happy, because our life is full of modern gadgets, recreation and leisure. Every commodity we purchase is consumer friendly. Every service we take is more customer oriented. Country’s economic growth is nearly 9%. So apparently, there is a feel good weather in our country as well as all over the world.
But, I personally feel, I’m not ‘Free’. I am giving Ten ( 10 ) reasons / 10 issues / 10 points to prove that.

1. Freedom from Corruption: India is a country where all work (specially several government services ) is full of corruption. Delaying any work is a normal thing here. Simple work is made more complicated such that it takes more time and the service taking people become harassed. You go to do any good work or plan any big project for our society and some top officials will show 10 reasons to you about why your job can not be done.
Power – cut: - It is one of the massive problem that India is facing right now. Power cuts may happen at any moment and anywhere. Xerox machines are stopped, all factories’ productions stop, government / public services remain closed due to huge loadsheddings at irregular timings. Even I have save my writings at frequent intervals for the fear of power-cuts. Important emails can not be sent / received due to sudden power cuts. Cyber Cafes remain virtually closed all day due to massive power cuts. During summer seasons, when average temperature maximum temperature around several metro cities of India becomes around 35 degree Celcius, many people can not sleep well due to long power cuts through the whole night. This is one of the great corruptions I have personally faced.

Transportation :- One can feel it by going from one corner of a city to another corner at office hours. Hours of delay cause to miss important business. Sometimes bus drivers and conductors drive their bus slowly to pick up more passengers which also causes corruption through transport.

2. Freedom from pollution: We are certainly not enemy of environment and we are also aware of global warming, green house gases, non-biodegradable plastics etc. But still our pollution control measures are not up to the mark. We don’t have advanced waste controls measures. We are reluctant about how much poisonous gases emitted from local cars daily and we cut big trees to flourish our wood business. We feel easy to drop plastic bags in narrow canals. We can not put our garbage in the proper garbage spots and we like to throw them on the roads. Can’t we be free from all these menaces?


3. Freedom from sex-starvation: Now is an adult topic. India and many Asiatic countries’ people are not allowed to view adult contents on their TV channels. The channels which are banned for the last 3 years are REN TV, TB6 etc. I have personally surveyed on my male friends and all of them are strictly against this policy of our I & B Ministry. Who cares if some freedom is given to TV channels to show adult scenes after midnight? Many wonderful foreign TV channels are not shown on India with the excuse that they show semi – nude ads once / twice a day! It’s time to think modern and think positive.
4. Freedom from illiteracy:- Lead India Movement can not be successful if the countrymen can not understand it. Go to rural places and you will find out yourself that people are so illiterate to understand what the freedom actually means. For them getting a plate of rice or one piece of bread after whole day’s hard work is freedom. Generally these people are misguided by some crooked leaders for their own betterment. This miserable condition can only be changed by educating these poor people enough such that they can understand who they are, what they want and how to get that.
5. Freedom from reservation:- A man should be known by his deed not by his caste. But in India, a man is known by his caste, not by his efficiency, honesty. Reservation policy is found everywhere – in schools, colleges, universities, in government policies and even in political parties. Political parties campaign according to religions. What a shame it is that now some political parties want that there should be reservations in jobs also.

6. Freedom of internet / information :- I watch TV and I see all the Indian local and national channels. And I see BBC World which I don’t consider as a complete global channel. But I can’t see Fox News, CNN, ABC News even if I wish. My cable operator closes the transmission of any channel whenever he wish without consulting to his subscribers. Fashion loving people can not see the original F TV. Rather they have to watch F TV India. I strongly dislike every TV channel being Indianised which diminishes the channel’s scope and information. I must thank I&B ministry’s corruptive strategy for that! At radio (local FM channels) I have to hear more talks than songs. Local newspapers are worthless and full of partiality and hardly care about their true readers’ sentiments. The only thing that is the global gateway for me is internet. I can get global information through global portals and news agencies. I can view good international TV shows online and play online / download my favourite music. But, unfortunately there is corruption too. Every Indian student like me doesn’t possess a computer with internet connection and so has to go to cyber café where there is no privacy of what I am doing. I can not take a backup because every computer doesn’t contain floppy drive, CD writer and pen drive. Internet is the only medium for getting all types of complete information but still India possess very poor infrastructure. I want to see ‘one internet connection for one personal computer’ movement. Then only we can have the freedom of internet. Moreover, internet connection must be cost effective.
7. Freedom of money:- You may not like it but even creativity requires money. Unless and until you are not financially stable, you can not spend free, think free and problems related to finance will haunt you along with your dependents in the family and creditors.
Many people don’t have Personal computer since they lack money. Even I don’t have internet facility since it costs too much to afford it. Only those people can live in luxurious flats and shop fashionable clothing and new gadgets who have no money problem. I want some quick money, I desperately want it but who is going to give it to me?
8. Freedom of privacy:- There are some people who do their own job less and feel curious what the other people are doing. In my locality there are many people who are always curious what my family members are doing? At night they will sit together and discuss what’s the latest buzz on us or any other family of our locality. As a result there is almost no private life of me. Whatever, I am talking to my mother right now and what appointments I have with people today will be out within next few days. These people do that because they are jobless and showing curiosity about others is a great time pass for them. I desperately want the freedom of privacy. If somebody has the Right to Information then I should have the Right to Privacy also.
9. Freedom of true love and care for family:- If you think that everybody is lovable then you are certainly right and wrong. Right, because every new born human baby is lovable. Wrong, because when this baby becomes a full grown man or man or woman, he or she may become bad due to his / her surroundings. Our objective should be to seach for the good men of our country and create the good environment near the bad people such that they also become good.
People are turning into human robots due to heavy work pressure. We can not meet with our relatives because we are always busy and they are busy too. We don’t have time to share time with our lovable near and dear ones. We are becoming selfish giants, families are breaking, divorce cases are increasing and there is a real necessity of true love. Our should be so designed that we shall be allotted some time to spend life with our family and friends. Our employers have give us such freedom.
10. Freedom of expression of thought:- Political partiality and hooliganism exists in every class of our society. Today you express your thoughts against any political party, tomorrow some activists from that party will murder you or give to vocal threats of warning. These things are very common. In many political surveys, educated people fear to give their opinions because of fearing insecurity from local political party goons. I simply want freedom these miscreants.
The day I can get these freedoms, I shall celebrate my freedom of Independence.

Written by Biswajit Ganguly