Hi kids,
Oww! As I write this (actually dictate this), I am lying in bed in hospital with injuries all over my body and a tiny fracture in my right knee, doped to the gills with medicine and being poked with needles every now and then. And, awfully, a scratch on my face. My scooty skidded on gravel left on the road by an inconsiderate somebody. I am in considerable – terrible - pain and can’t even type. I am not in worse condition simply because I was driving slow. My poor scooty is damaged even though it was not its fault.
As a journalist, my scooty represents my freedom. However, it can also be the cause of suffering if I can’t handle it. Learning how to ride a two or four wheeler is not just being able to go from one place to another, but to do so safely. This requires skill, particularly in India, where there is such a variety of traffic, awful road sense and hazards of the kind that did me in.
It is the same with Independence. Our country became independent after hundreds of years of foreign rule. This does not mean that we can take it to rack and ruin. Our responsibility is all the greater. It means liberty for us, but what good is liberty if we end up suffering because of our lack of skill or understanding of our duty?
On Independence Day, let us resolve to become deserving of our great country and the freedom it gives us. Let us stop asking, and like the great heroes, start serving it in right earnest.
See ya next week. (Ouch).
Oww! As I write this (actually dictate this), I am lying in bed in hospital with injuries all over my body and a tiny fracture in my right knee, doped to the gills with medicine and being poked with needles every now and then. And, awfully, a scratch on my face. My scooty skidded on gravel left on the road by an inconsiderate somebody. I am in considerable – terrible - pain and can’t even type. I am not in worse condition simply because I was driving slow. My poor scooty is damaged even though it was not its fault.
As a journalist, my scooty represents my freedom. However, it can also be the cause of suffering if I can’t handle it. Learning how to ride a two or four wheeler is not just being able to go from one place to another, but to do so safely. This requires skill, particularly in India, where there is such a variety of traffic, awful road sense and hazards of the kind that did me in.
It is the same with Independence. Our country became independent after hundreds of years of foreign rule. This does not mean that we can take it to rack and ruin. Our responsibility is all the greater. It means liberty for us, but what good is liberty if we end up suffering because of our lack of skill or understanding of our duty?
On Independence Day, let us resolve to become deserving of our great country and the freedom it gives us. Let us stop asking, and like the great heroes, start serving it in right earnest.
See ya next week. (Ouch).
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