Independence Through Inter-Dependence- The Right To Be And Let Be

Author - Pallavi Ghosh

The moment we speak of independence, the following questions spring up almost naturally- independence from what or whom and for what? As we celebrate the 69^th year of our independence as a self-ruled democratic nation, might we introspect on our independence a little? If independence is about self-rule or “swaraj”, then why do we have to celebrate freedom only from an alien rule?

Imagine a day of your life. You freshen up; get dressed; sip your tea; eat breakfast; work and so on. Now, imagine a day when you do not have anything to wear because the weavers have stopped weaving; no food because the farmers have stopped cultivating; the buses have no drivers and the milkman or maid has gone missing. For a single day to run its course, we are related to others- our farmers, vegetable vendors, weavers, doctors, public servants, etc. Therefore an ideal survival plan includes a host of people to co-operate and act freely.  

If survival is one’s basic instinct, it is definitely easier to survive against odds with collective strength and support.

We often tend to think that discrimination only harms the victim. But here are three journeys- each a two minutes detour- that dramatise what it means to be in the shoes of the discriminated. What happens when the tables are turned? How would we feel if we were to be treated on the same biased plane? In short, they say-Yes, Discrimination Hurts! It is injurious to health; not only for others against whom we discriminate against, but also for us- the perpetrators.

Nitin Das, the maker of these movies, is an independent filmmaker who expresses his passion for film making by basing them on various social issues. These short movies have been made under the project- ChangeloomsWith.in, which is a year-long journey of 100 young entrepreneurs, who have been piloting social change projects in six states- Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand , Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

The message in these video clips is a simple one- Stop Discrimination. It is injurious to health!

Let us begin...

From how to live to whom to love and live with; discrimination on the basis of status, caste, sexuality, region, and faith is an everyday reality here. Is a son’s love and respect for a father, brothers, friends and relatives more or less homosexual, thus ‘abnormal’ and ‘unnatural’ than love for another man? Let us watch-

Lastly, we need to remember that there is a dual aspect to independence, i.e., the independence to treat and be treated fairly.  Unless we are free from our biases, we are not independent beings as our choices and relations will remain restricted by our very own prejudices.