We are independent...really?

Alright then!! I heard it was "Happy Independence Day" yesterday. <Yawn> Well! I slept all day for it was just an extra holiday I got from my usually just one day off work schedule. Yeah, so where do I begin..errr...I was actually all plans to post yesterday itself. But then I thought people are all high with the superficial feelings of patriotism and the synonyms, why bother them!! I gave in to the phrase 'every dog has it's day'.
Lets start from the basics- Are we really independent? My facebook wall is filled with status updates ranging from enhanced quotes to 'May India be blessed' to Happy Independence Day (the least). When the entire country was running bonkers saying the three words, I chose to update my status with a Dev Anand song. Ironically, friends liked and commented but nobody questioned the 'why' of it. Why a song on this eventful day? And that folks, is the biggest irony of it all. People don't question, they just sit and go with the flow. I want to mention here that I'm referring to the commoners. No commoner in India has the nerve to step out of their comfort zone to question the government. And here again I pinched in a 'why', wondering what it is? I could have said "No Indian..." in the earlier sentence but I chose "no commoner in India..." because ladies and gentlemen, we (I include myself too) don't have the right to be called Indians. What have we done to deserve that? Nothing...zilch!! We support those people who are the actual terrorists, who have been and are still doing us all the harm. Blasts happen and victims' family is given some money and they appear fine with it. What runs in your veins people? I'm sure it's not blood. Throw the money back on their face and compel them to actually do somethng if they care. Speeches wont help, condolences wont help! Money surely wont. Why should you let your dear ones go like that? Ask the govt what would they have done had it been someone from their family at the blast incident? Would they have asked for some money and settled? What would they have done? And when I am making these questions, I want to ask one more question which is lost somewhere, why is Kasab still alive? He should be killed in the most brutal manner and now please don't give me the Ahimsa speech. Please don't preach when you yourself can't walk on those paths. Long gone are the Bapu days. I so wish those days continued. Yes, I know what I'm saying. I know we were not free then, we were living under the British Rule. But atleast we walked as one, we fought as one which today is a sad issue to even comment on. Some prominent smartasses have made us puppets in their hands and we, unfortunately, fail to use our brain against it. Somebody, from another country, comes in and starts ruling us doesn't mean belongs to our country. It takes the real blood to feel attached. Terrible but the truth! We the people of India are appreciated for our complexion, our food, our dresses and so many other things but honestly, I'm sure we are laughed at for issues like corruption and unity. CWG just added to our woes.

Getting back to the Kasab issue, why is he still alive? for more blasts? or is it a matter of vote bank? I'd like to quote a friend here "atleast don't play vote bank politics in the name of terrorism." If a terrorist is a hindu shoot him, if it's a muslim shoot him. At the end of the day he's taking innocent lives. 60 long years have passed and instead of problems lessening, problems are only increasing by the second. And we know who the real culprit is. I guess after 400 years of playing slaves, it runs in our blood. It makes me sad.
Last night I was talking to a friend on the independence issue and he suddenly said "it beats me why Pakistanis and Indian Muslims are considered same." It hit me. I hate to mention it, this friend of mine is a non-muslim but that's not what the point is. The point is that in our heart we still stand together, we still want to speak up and protect each other, however, we don't have the nerve to go against someone who says in full public eye that he/she totally supports just 'our' community. We can't dare to. Why?

Back to where I began- Are we really independent? No, we're not and perhaps, we never will be. For that, nobody is to be blamed, the onus is on us. Independence has become just like any other word in the dictionary with, of course, a little spark to it and the spark is that every year on August 15, we tell ourself and the people alike that we are celebrating this word. When in reality, this word has become a part of the game that the so-called trailblazers are playing.
So, please do not flatter yourself and celebrate Independence Day when you free urself from all this. Till then atleast don't comply with them. Do what your heart believes in. Keep poking till it becomes an ugly mark that aches.

P.S. I can't talk politics, I don't understand much of it but I do understand the difference between right and wrong. I truly feel, we should first strive to get freedom from sanity 'cause the day we get it, we'll know where to head next.