Pages

Freedom as per a millennial | 99 years of Jallianwala Bagh



What is Freedom?
she asks
stepping gently over her pious motherland
that was once soaked in blood
of her own daughters and sons
granddaughters and grandchildren

What is Freedom?
she asks
clicking pictures of birds
that fly not astounded by bullet fires
but aimlessly

What is Freedom?
she asks
scrolling her Facebook timeline
seeing people argue and altercate
bash and denigrate
counter and critique

To have Freedom is to express an opinion
in crude words, it takes birth on the inside of you
in voice, once painstakingly held captive down the throat
in language, the body emanates so that shut eyes and ears can feel

To give Freedom is to hear, acknowledge, respect
one's right to have an opinion
even when it isn't same as yours.

The word Freedom evolves. For a kid, it might be being able to walk without help. For an adult, it might be to live away from home and pay own bills. 100 years ago, it was to be able to reap your own crop. What does freedom mean to us in this society? People bash each other on social media, in streets, on news channels for their divergent opinions. We meet so many people in our day to day lives. We can hardly find one we can speak to without a filter. We are polysexual, offensive to a great degree, racist to some degree, prejudiced, over-empathetic, emotionally foolish. We aren't perfect. If you have one person who doesn't make us ashamed of who we truly are, life becomes tolerable. Do we give freedom we seek?


Share this: