Its time for glory, another year passes by as India celebrates its Independence Day on 15th August. Flags are hoisted all over the country, small children hold paper flags and swing it back and forth. People are selling tri-colored Indian flags, celebrating the spirit of freedom and a different aura as the country celebrates Independence Day in true fervor.

Though every year, we celebrate the exodus of the British from the country, are we actually free and independent? Who is free and who is independent? After the British rule, our countrymen and women are doing a lot to create a change and some courageous people take dauntless efforts to see a visible change. But, in a true sense, we are not independent in man ways. Child labor still prevails and child marriages are still happening, there are villages without electricity, water, and farmers are dying as they are hoodwinked in the name of technology and there is no end to it. When we talk about celebrating the spirit of Independence Day, we need to think what we have achieved and how we have developed to even cherish the day in our country. Yes, we have gone a long way in becoming a developing nation and racing with technology, but where is the real freedom? "The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women," said Swami Vivekananda. He strongly believed that only when a woman is free is the country free. Can a woman in India walk alone on the road in the middle of the night? No! The past few incidents, which have been taking place, is a proof enough and can suffice to say that a woman is not really free and so she is not independent. Take the episode of what happened on Gateway of India, Mumbai on 31st December when a gang of men attacked a girl despite having a male companion with her. Where is the freedom of the girl? There are thousands of incidences one can quote, which is happening every single day in cities or even far-flung corners of the village. Think about this, the country is free, but not the people living in the country. In a true sense, we do not have freedom.

When we attempted to pull away the differences of caste and creed ages back, did we uproot it completely? Episodes of Bombay bomb blasts, Babri Masjid demolition- a war exists in the name of religion and what independence are we celebrating. Everyday, there are millions of people going hungry, have no shelter to cover their heads, women are being raped, children being abused and who is free?

Things are changing at a slow pace and there are developments in the country in terms of technology and it is definitely a positive sign. Today, education is spreading to rural areas and there is penetration of knowledge. Unborn dreams in millions of peoples life has to take shape, women should be able to walk free be it day or night, poverty should be rooted out, education must reach far and wide and peace should prevail in the country. No war in the name of religion, to realize that God is one and we need to live in communion, one as Indians and not as Hindus, Muslims or Christians. We will one day see light at the end of the tunnel and that day we would achieve true independence!