A cool breeze is sweeping the floor of the pathway I am walking upon . It is 8o clock in the morning , and I am shivering a bit . The shiver is not because of the air which is slapping my face . I see a bunch of school children bustling near an open kiosk for various Independence day items . Those small tricolored flags , head bands , wrist bands , badges , and most importantly , the kites ! The immediately induced nostalgia of olden days is making me cold and numb . The man selling those items on the kiosk is wearing a skull cap and has a long beard . He is old in age , as is evident from his face and posture . A strong current of air blows some flags out of their place . One of those flags is getting farther away from the ground where it fell ; it is dancing in the current . I see the old man run to pick up that lone flag moving at a considerable distance . He is chasing it , and the flag is moving farther . Some more flags make their move and fell down from the desk of the kiosk . It must be the day which compelled me to move and pick up those flags and keep them back on the desk . Some of the children helped me too . As the old man came back with that lone flag in his hand , I could see a shine on his face . He was pleased with my help . Aaj bahut hawa chal rahi hai ... , I said . Haan babu , waise 15 August ke din aisa hi mausam rahta hai .... Sab patang udaate hain ... hawa to chalegi hi Haha ...haan .... aap kya har saal lagaate hain ye dukaan ?, I asked . Main to babu 86 se ye dukaan laga raha hoon ... Baap re ...matlab Aap to janme bhi nahi honge ... Haha ... haan chacha ... kaise de rahe hain ye plastic wala? Do rupaye mein ... Do rupaye ? Bachpan mein to 50 paise mein khareedte the hum log Are babu , hum to 5 paise mein bhi beche hain ... Lekin tab utna mein kaam chal jata tha ... Tab apna desh mein log khali paisa nahi dekhta tha ... ghar pariwaar dost , ye sab bhi cheez tha ... ab to jisko dekho bas lootne par hai ... Hum do rupaya mein de rahe hain .... Baaki jagah jaake dekhiye ... I felt sad . Here I am wearing a T-shirt worth Rs 1000 and a short worth Rs 1500 , but I am still bickering over the price of our nations little flag which is worth Rs 2 . A two rupee tricolored symbol to signify my independence , the love for my nation . What profit does the old man get from it ? Nothing except a feeling of joy and love for the country which occasionally does not even consider him its own . The feeling of accomplishment towards an auspicious day , the day when our country got independent , the joy he must have lived to experience then . Or maybe love for the little children who have surrounded that little kiosk like honey bees . I dont know . It seems , it seems I am the one who is not yet truly independent . The poison of indifference has shackled my soul . Perhaps the old man is right . Our generation is all about looting . I see kites flying in the sky . Beautiful colorful ones . There is a bigger kite flying low and above my head . It is colored in saffron , white and green stripes . Chacha , wo-o waali patang dena ... Wo tirange waali , I said to the old man . Ye wali ? Ye to mahngi hai ... Do na ... aaj achhi hawa chal rahi hai ... P.S - HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY , MY COUNTRY ! :)
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 03:58:23 +0000