I was just chatting up with a colleague at work, and he was telling me of his trip to Coimbatore that he would make on the 15th of August and how he was a little worried about the trip.
He was told to be earlier than usual to facilitate extra security checks and scrutinies before boarding the flight.

He said that on the day of independence, Is he really free. Is this liberated India?

I smiled and he walked off, but it set me thinking - How ironic is that? Its Independence day and we are still living a life of fear, mistrust, anxiety and everything around us has to be monitored,what we say has to be moderated, what we write has to be edited, We are shackled by so many chains - Do we represent a free India - Are we the India that our heroes dreamt about?

"At the stroke of midnight hour when the world sleeps, India will awake to freedom" said Pandit Nehru - Have we awoken to freedom is a tricky question, something that I am too short statured to answer

But I guess, If we are alive the next day, we can still be free. So Partha will have to go earlier than usual and follow all security guidelines. Life - is more precious than freedom.