"""R ***V... (Really) ^^^Free^^^"""...??????

Maybe Freedom and Freewill are just an illusion.
INDEPENDENCE of Indians means the Independence of EACH AND EVERY INDIVIDUAL of the country. We consider ourselves to be citizens of an Independent country but don't know the exact meaning of INDEPENDENCE.
It has been more than half a century since britishers stepped out of our country....but has that made any difference?

Hence there is no way out of compromise/dependence. Mark this, “NOTHING IS PERFECT, NOR CAN IT EVER BE!”...

Few months back, in August, I was driving down a busy street in Hyderabad, at the crossroads a red traffic light made me stop. Soon a group of street children emerged from the other side and one of them started tapping on my bike. Others spread out to the other vehicles that were pulling up.

Each held tiny flag pins, the kind you can pin up on your Shirt sleeve or on the collar, slightly bigger tricolor flags that you can put up on the car dashboard or another bigger size that can be put up on tables and in offices and living rooms. 15th August was approaching. The day India got independence 62 years ago. Unfortunate way for those street children to be independent I thought. They are apparently assigned at traffic junctions and sell flags from 8 am to 8 pm starting from about a week before the Independence Day.
Other day one of the political parties of the country enforced a closure (bandh) protesting against a decision taken by the government. This resulted in the death of the innocent people across Andhra Pradesh who struggled to reach the hospital after they were blocked by the protesters. In all these cases prompt medical attention could have saved their lives but that was not to be. Is this what we get as the citizens of free and independent Country?
Aren't we still shackled in an independent country?

Most of us work without any pay for over three months in an year. The government takes this hard earned money in the form of taxes and simply gives a large chunk of it to the people who are incapable of earning on their own. Sure a part of the taxes go in boosting defense, improving roads, improving water supply and other infrastructural benefits, but most of it goes in public welfare programs and freebies for the poor. Every product we buy is inclusive of taxes. Every service we get is taxed. An honest man's life is taxed at every point, in a way he is robbed officially by the government.
Do we really have freedom of speech?

The political leaders of the country roam around in long convoys paid for by the people of the country and behave as if they own the country; honestly, they are not far away from reality. Given the mindset of Indians, these leaders or politicians do own the country. That is why we have political protesters burning buses, blocking roads, pelting stones, destroying property and bringing the country to a halt at the smallest of provocation. They can because they own us. India is not free. In fact it is going further and further away from freedom. I have seen people argue that we are much better off than a few Arab countries and most African nations.
Do you think we really have got what the freedom fighters struggled for? Has their sacrifice been worth it?

When I was in the ninth Grade, I read an eminent personality’s quote in our (compulsory) history book that sent a shiver down my body and mind. That great personality was none other than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India. People heard him on All India Radio on that much-awaited midnight of August 14, 1947.
They heard him say, "Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will be awaiting life and freedom. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers itself again." Since then 62 eventful years have passed. India has also been growing gradually[ In what sense???]. 
With only few more days left for our Republic day celebrations across the country many political leaders will be invited as the guests for flag hoisting.
How many amongst them can sing our National Song and National Anthem without making a mistake and do they know the meaning of it?

Freedom, in my mind- is the ability of an individual to do as he pleases, as long as it does not harm anyone else, or infringe on someone else’s freedom. Does the India of today provide that freedom to us? Surely, it has to be more than being able to sing Vande Maataram instead of God Save the King.
India will be independent only when the hundreds and thousands of problems faced by most of the Indians are uprooted.

They have no problems living under a nanny state that forces everyone to use seat-belts and helmets. Sure these save lives and should be worn by everyone travelling but the state shouldn’t be enforcing this on people. At most it can create awareness about these issues and let the people judge.

Our freedom struggle is yet to start. Hopefully we’ll celebrate the day when we are truly free it isn’t too far away…