FREEDOM

Today, during English class, we had a deep discussion about what the word ‘freedom’ meant to us students. Though my friends just laughed it off casually and answered with whatever came into their mind, it put me into a deep, deep thought. When it was my turn to answer, I voiced my opinion of how freedom meant being able to take some decisions that we are really sure of. Freedom is the ability to stand on our own feet and not depend on others. My friend gave a similar but different opinion on that matter. She said, according to her, freedom meant being able to soar in the sky like a free bird. An image of a free bird soaring high in the sky with no responsibilities and no tension drew itself into my mind. It felt good. Freedom.


When I came back to reality and actually thought rationally about it, a free bird I not free from responsibilities or fears or tensions. Who are we to judge? Then what exactly is freedom? The various answers my friends gave were somewhat funny. One said, freedom is being able to chat in private without our parents watching over us. That, I do not agree to. Myself being a teenager, I know what a teenager is capable of doing online. It’s not a very pretty thing to say in a blog. If not properly looked upon and taken care of, a child can grow up in a wrong way. A million examples are portrayed in front of us in our society and surrounding. I have friends who are doing very wrong things that will bring shame to them and their family. Therefore, I am growing up a little and agreeing with the parents when they keep a watch on what their teenager is doing online in the privacy of her room.

I’m sorry for deviating from the topic of freedom. I don’t promise to stay on the topic though. A scene vividly came into my mind when the teacher told us about freedom. It was a scene from a movie. A wounded man was a battle ground fell to the ground and he screamed “FREEDOM” before he died. The scene sent a chill down my spine. Freedom is basically having rights. Having the power to be who you are. Not having to fear something or someone but god. When one of my other friends said that freedom to her meant being taken seriously, that led me into a totally different angle of thoughts. When she spoke, we could actually hear from her voice that she was hurt. She sorrowfully said about how her parents listened only to her elder sisters and not to her. It seems her opinions were never taken into matter. She was treated as a nobody. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had broken down into tears then and there. Some parents do that and knowingly or unknowingly, a child is hurt. She told us about how her parents ask her elder siblings about what colour the room should be painted, which type of cell phone he should buy, where they should go out for dinner etc. It seems they never bother about her suggestions unless it is solely relating to her. I can understand this situation if she was a 6 year old kid. But mind you, she is 16 years old. Her older siblings are 18 and 20. How does being 2 to 4 years elder than a person make that person anymore wiser? Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn’t.


I had a similar case in my house yesterday. My elder sister had gone for her evening classes when my dad brought home a new iPhone 4G. Now mind you, I already have an iPod Touch 3rd gen. An iPhone and iPod is not much different except for iPhone letting you to make calls and send texts. As my father was not much of a tech-whiz, I took the iPhone from him and started making homely (creating a mobile account, setting iTunes etc). My father’s first reaction surprised me. He asked me to wait for my sister to come because she would know what to do more than me. A full year of using an iTouch, and my father expected my sister (who owned no Apple product) to know better. If I actually had the power to do so, I would have slammed down the iPhone and walked away. Don’t worry, I didn’t do it. I suddenly remembered that when I had purchased my iTouch, my sister was the one to configure it and make it ready to use. I didn’t get the chance to configure my own gadget. Would you blame me for being mad? I wouldn’t!


That’s where parents go wrong. They forget who to give importance and what kind of importance. Somewhere along the path of growing up, maybe my parents forgot that I wasn’t a kid anymore.

DEVIATED! Haha! Anyways what I just wanted to say is that freedom has a lot of meaning to different people. For some, it is being able to voice an opinion. But for some other, it may be equal to being born. Every day in our life is a fight to get recognized and taken seriously. Everyone wants to be free. Freedom is an everyday fight to be who you are.

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” - Albert Camus