The saddest thing about our Independence Day celebrations lies in the way we have allowed this day to degenerate into an out and out political affair. A typical Independence Day celebration consists of politicians getting on the dais and making lengthy speeches, which are so banal that it sounds like a rerun of an old tape played hundreds and thousands of time.  In fact, most folks prefer staying at home and watching re-runs of stale TV serials or movies, rather than trudging to the venue of Independence Day celebrations and getting harangued with boring speeches.

Why can't a culturally rich and diverse country like India find a better way to celebrate its Independence Day? Why should our politicians be the only ones to hog all the limelight? An Independence Day should be a day of fun, gaiety, pageants, color, entertainment and much else. Sadly, in Indian context it becomes a day of boring speeches, and a day when we enjoy least amount of freedom. Every 15th August there the cities get littered with roadblocks, ostensibly to protect our all-powerful politicians, who emerge from their castles to make speeches.

When an average Indian enjoys less freedom of movement on our Independence Day then what is there left to celebrate? Many people think of this day as a day of traffic snarls and inconvenience. This has to change. The Independence Day in a democratic country as India should be a day of boundless optimism and freedom. We must be allowed to celebrate our Independence Day in the right spirit, as the citizens in US celebrate their 4th of July. The point is that people should be independent enough to decide how they want to celebrate.

The present mode of celebrations, where only the powerful politicians make lengthy speeches while the rest of nation listens quietly, smacks of a deeply feudal culture. But we are not a feudal culture any more. India in the 60th year of its independence is a democratic country with great economic potential. It is our birthright to celebrate our Independence Day as free, strong and confident citizens of a great country. A grassroots level movement is needed to rescue our Independence Day from the political vested interests who desire to keep exercising their draconian power.