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ON THE JOY OF BEING FREE AND INDEPENDENT...

It may be easy to saythat India is theworld's greatestdemocracy and yet notbelieve in it. It ishowever, very sad thatwe Indians still preferto follow westerntrends and feel proudabout it. We make ourminds greatlydependent on westernthinking and also makeourselves believe thatwe are modern.

Chhavi Manra, professor

Living the way I wantto, enjoying life as Iwant is what Iattribute as freedom.What I have heardfrom people aboutthose days of freedomstruggle, has nevermade any difference tome because I am not apart of that time ofhistory. But today I amglad things are movingtowards developmentand growth.

Arshad Jamil, professional

How often do we thinkabout the sacrificethat has gone intoobtaining this freedomthat we are enjoying,other than whilestudying about it inschool? Honestly, Idont. Independence tome means nothing.Feeling pride for mycountry on I-Day andRepublic Day everyyear has become morea habit now.

Amit Saxena, professional

On Independence Day,I will probably justspend some qualitytime at home with myfamily for me that isFREEDOM. I lovelooking at all thesmiling faces aroundme, they make mehappy too. I am justglad that the dayswhen India wascontrolled by theBritish have longpassed.

Annie Mukhya, entrepreneur

I remember my schooldays when I used toget set early in themorning onIndependence Day andsing patriotic songsafter the flag hoistingceremony. I alsoparticipated in skitswith patriotic themes.But I admit that I alsoused to look forward tothis day since it wasalso a holiday atschool.

Aisha Dangi, student

Why is it that we feelvery Indian only onAugust 15 or January26? Why does thepride and patriotismtowards ourmotherland only comeout during an India-Pakistan cricketmatch? Why does thesudden realisation ofbeing Indian occur tous only when wewatch a movie likeChak De India?.

Abhishek Modi, professional

DNAprofiles a few residents of the city who feel that saluting the Tricolouron Independence-Day is a splendid symbol of patriotismJitendra Dave Ahmedabad

Does Independence Day mean freedom from get-ting up early in the morning? Many ofus may nothave participated in a flag hoisting ceremony af-ter finishing school and college and many eventhink that it's not part oftheir duty to pay respectto the national flag. However, there are some forwhom saluting the national flag is top priority onAugust 15 and January 26. For them, these twoare vastly different holidays from the rest.

Naresh Shukla, a senior lecturer at Gujarat Artsand Commerce College (Evening), has nevermissed a single occasion when it came to show-ing his gratitude to the nation. "These two daysgive you an opportunity to show your love for thecountry and pay respect to the national flag," saysthe 39-year-old Shukla who has been partici-pating in hoisting ceremony since the age ofthree.

Shukla's father was a teacher who made itcompulsory for his children to attend the func-tion from their childhood. Later on, it was adopt-ed as a practice by him as he realised the impor-tance of the day. In 36 years, Shukla has seen a

remarkable change in the way events are con-ducted on these two occasions. Now, a flag hoist-ing ceremony is just a function and there is noenthusiasm among the people, he laments.

The lecturer feels that people are disillusionedwith the government for its alleged failure to solvepersistent problems and, as a result, are not at-tending these functions. "People need to realisethat there is no point in blaming the entire na-tion for issues such as corruption, unemploy-ment or any other reason. And not payingrespect to the national flag is not a solutionto these problems," Shukla said.

One more patriotic man is octogenarianManharlal Shukla, secretary of Majoor Ma-hajan Sangh. He has missed only two Inde-pendence Day functions on account of illhealth. However, the 97-year-old Gandhian willnot be able to salute the Tricolour this time round

also as his hand is fractured. "My father has notmissed any occasion except for the last couple ofyears," said his daughter, Bharati.

Anand Yagnik, a Gujarat high court advo-cate has also been following the tradition

of saluting the flagsince 1975. "I wasin Std 1 in Balb-harti Vidyalay inChamanpurawhen I saluted thenational flag for thefirst time. Since then Ihave been attending In-dependence Day cere-monies at my school andhave not missed evenone," says Yagnik.

'YEH DIL HAI HINDUSTANI'

What does I-Day meanto todays youth?

Naresh Shukla

With the evolving face of the youth of today, the insight levels ofthe young Indian is also increasing, and for the better. Theybelieve that it is not the country that constitutes them but it is themwho make this country. Independence, in its true sense, is not whatone feels but what we make of it. The power lies in our hands, toshape this country's future in the 21st century.

Manharlal Shukla

AHMEDABADMONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011

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Mahatma Gandhi'scharkha is spinning itswheels across India

and abroad like never before.The charkha or spinning wheelwhich is now an embodimentof India's independence move-ment, has seen a sharp rise insales as visitors at SabarmatiAshram are making a beelinefor it during thepast few years.

At SabarmatiAshram, dozens ofpeople are in-

volved in the artof assembling thecharkha, whichthey have learntby training overthe years. Accord-ing to AmrutModi, secretary of SabarmatiAshram Preservation and

Memorial Trust and the di-rector of Gandhi Smarak San-

grahalaya thatpreserves Gand-hi's heritage atthe ashram, thedevice that spins

fibre into yarnhas seen agrowth of 33% insales in the lastthree years.

"In 2010, wesold 8,000

charkhas to the visitors whocame to see the ashram. In

2009, a total of 7,200 charkhaswere sold while around 6,000were sold in 2008," Modi said.He added, the buyers are visi-tors from across the countryand abroad. He said that recentvisitors who bought charkhas

include scholars from Spainwho were visiting the vice-chancellor ofMaharashtra Uni-versity, and people who admireMahatma Gandhi and his ideals.

Three types of charkhas aresold at the Ashram, ranging inprice from Rs100 to Rs300.

Satish Jha.DNA

Bapus charkha is a hot

favourite, sales up by 33%Visitors from home &abroad make abeeline for thespinning wheel at theSabarmati Ashram

The joy of being in united colurs of Freedom

Unity in diversity Patriotism knows no limits