On this 65th Independence Day...

Long years ago, the first Prime Minister of free India, in his Independence Day eve speech had said, “The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over. And so we have to labour and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams.”

This seemingly simple dream is something that we have not been able to achieve for our nation- touted to be the largest democracy in the world- in 64 years of British-free rule. Probably our country is facing the worst period of political turmoil in democratic history with the huge number of scams and matters of international shame. But at the same time, we must not forget that even with so much trouble, our democratic principles are still suitably working and we have not faced a crisis like some of our nearest neighbours. We are proud Indians and will always strive to make this country develop in every possible way.

Today the entire nation is celebrating 64 years of independence, 64 years of struggle to keep pace with the world standards, 64 years of political, social and economic convulsions, 64 years of being the most successful democracy in the world.

Today is a special day for every Indian. I stand before you speaking about our nation and its achievements, tomorrow it would be back to my normal daily routine with everything that I am saying now, pocketed for another speech somewhere. Life would be back to normal. I would like to share an experience with you all at this moment.

Till some 5 years back, some of my friends and I used to get together in the early morning hours of the 26th of January and 15th of August every year on the terrace of our building to celebrate the Republic and Independence Days. We had our parents and neighbours get up early that day to join us as we hoisted the tricolour on the roof-top followed by a mock-parade and a cultural program as early as 6 in the morning. When I came to Delhi in 2008, suddenly these ‘National Holidays’ had become days of ‘off-from-work’ and the feeling of patriotism that I used to have earlier, was felt missing. Waking up at 4 in the morning on mere two days in a year to do something for the country by a group of 8-15 year old kids, was surely something worth doing, as compared to doing nothing. When I got to know about this celebration of Independence Day at college, I was rejoiced- Not because it would give us a day without studies, but because our college was taking the pain of organising this beautiful event and such an overwhelming and enthusiastic participation was seen from all the students.

Thank you everyone for shewing your interest in doing something for the sake of the land that gave birth to our forefathers and has perfectly nurtured us and promises to be with us till the very end. Thanks a lot. Jai Hind!


Footnote: This was the speech I made at my college during the Independence Day Celebrations last Friday and thought it was worth sharing. I hope you enjoyed it. Wish you a very Happy Independence Day.

Comments

  1. Beautifully written and presented. Let the sense of patriotism take shape in the minds of today's youth.The thugs sitting in the parliament will have a tough time if the young India challenges them. They have no morality and that's their biggest weakness.Let moral values prevail on this 64th national anniversary.

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  2. very well written antarik..!
    seriously,nowdays we jst consider these 2 days as an off day..! ppl hardly ever watch the parade..:|
    its a real shame for us..:(

    newaz..Happy Independence day..!

    JAI HIND.!

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  3. **LIKE**LIKE**
    I had not attended independence or republic day last year in school. but 2day i went n i felt m goin 2 attend it aftr a rele long gap. its still d same only with the change in Princi...! the same eng hindi n oriya speech with princi's speech followed by patriotic songs. It felt good nd rele missed our club's celebratn !!

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  4. Thanks for your views everyone. The present political situation with Anna Hazare going on fast from tomorrow and Manmohan Singh stranded in India without his mentor (Mrs Sonia Gandhi), well, the real test begins now! And if Rahul Gandhi is gaining the post of Congress Chairman, then are we expecting a 3rd UPA rule in the country?

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  5. ok so to talk about the man without the mentor..the way he says "jai hind" is ridiculous.an italian could not teach the indian how to do that properly!!what else can be xpected..just to start with.
    n even i attended my clg's celebration yesterday.the flag hoisting n national anthem thrilled me to the core.the students from all races(including NRI's) did the march past.it was worth hearing to the memories of the ppl who lived through the times.:)..jai hind:)

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  6. Vry well-said n vry much true...

    Evn d persn born on d day our country gained Independence has retired n v hv nt inherited their seriousness in building up d nation n mayb aftr anothr generation, our Independence struggl wl d a historical or mythological story... V r d generation who cn evr do nethng n v must do it... If v dnt join politics n merely blame dem 4m hre, v r heading 2wrds our doooommm...

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