77th Independence Day

I am no Hindi Pandit, and whatever I am writing here is purely my interpretation.

15th August is our Independence Day, though in Hindi we call it Swadhinta Divas as also Swatantrata Divas. In English swadhinta is liberty and Swatantrata is freedom.

To my mind, while swatantrata gives us free hand or freedom to do anything, swadhinta indicates controlled freedom – not anyone else’s control but our self control ( swa adhin). It emphasises that freedom earned by us after a prolonged struggle is to be enjoyed but with some control. The way we go berserk on social media, during road rage, when someone professes a contrarian view et al are all instances of uncontrolled freedom, which seems to be posing a great risk to our social fabric.

Let’s cherish every moment with a free spirit, but awakened conscience so that independence earned due to sacrifices of our freedom fighters is preserved till eternity and we use it for the betterment of humanity.

Swadhinta is Liberty

Swatantrata is freedom

We enjoy both

Within India’s fiefdom.

But all rights come with obligations

And freedom with some controls

These controls vest with us only

And are therefore called self controls!

Happy Independence Day to all my readers!

12 thoughts on “77th Independence Day

  1. Your Excellency view of Controlled freedom is Hinduism philosophy, Holy Geeta’s or Sages’message too, excessive freedom is open sword while controlled one in sword in sheath. Happy Independence Day , Respected Sir. I am thankful for your continuous Pen of wisdom who is writing for all of us to read implement grow and do good to society.

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  2. Nicely written Sir… It’s true that with every right an obligation also comes… and one can not enjoy a right for long if the obligation is forgot..

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      1. 😊 let your mind float and bring us these pearls of wisdom. Had a fantastic nostalgia filled trip with some 18 friends. Stayed together for three nights and relived our youth. Our visit to my college made it to the locals newspaper and TV channels 😆

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