75 YEARS OF 
INDEPENDENCE
What is the real meaning of independence?.
What is the importance of independence?
What is the status of independence in India?
What does the spirit of independence mean?
Independence or in dependence?.
I wish you all a happy independence day.
Foremost I would like to mention that I am not writing a saga about the pre-independence struggle. I am here to write about the status of independence today. My independence day wish is limited to being able to come out of the rule of the British government. The government today is run by Indian citizens, but there is no difference. English rule gave Indians many hardships in those days. The roads, railways, post office, parliament, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, etc built by the British should have been in our dreams if not built by them. Yes, they did it for the convenience of the British, not for us.. Â
I was part of the group discussions when I heard the British rule India. The conversation would include freedom struggle, sacrifice, and torture given by the British. It was one of my teachers in High School who turned my attention toward the blessing in disguise. Think of today’s India with some of the buildings, roads, etc. If not built by the British, can we dream of constructing them even after 75 years of the British leaving India? With the corruption, population, and the tag of a developing country, I cannot even dream of these things done by the Indian Government.
Most of the buildings constructed by the British are used today as the administrative office of government. Â
To mention a few, Â
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Fort St George is now used as the administrative headquarters for the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu state. It is the house for groups of troops in transit to various locations in South India and the Andamans.
 Victoria Memorial, Kolkata is now a museum. It is the largest monument in the world.
Writers’ Building, Kolkata. It is the official secretariat building of the state government of West Bengal in Kolkata.
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National Library of India, Kolkata This library will collect and preserve printed material produced within India. It stores more than 2.2 million books and records. It is the largest in the country.
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Bombay High Court. Now also used for court proceedings.
Gateway of India, Mumbai, was the entrance point to India for the British Viceroys. Now, this monument is Mumbai city’s top tourist attraction.
India Gate, Delhi The gate is Delhi’s most important tourist attraction. The Republic Day Parade starts from Rashtrapati Bhavan and passes around the India Gate.
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The Rashtrapati Bhavan was the home to the British Viceroys of India. Now, it is the house of the president of India.
The above example is a sample, and the list goes on. In the wake of 75 years of coming out of the clutches of the British, we are still constructing our parliament house today. The building of parliament that we are using today was built by the British. Previously, it was the Imperial Legislative Council. Indian constitution is the adopted from British constitution. We run most of our administrative offices of governments in building constructed by them.
 Independence is freedom from the control or influence of others. We are out of their control, but the influence is still there.
There are some exceptional instances like Vidhana Soudha of Bangalore. The construction and conception of the Karnataka Vidhana Soudha is the achievement of Kengal Hanumanthaiah. A foundation stone was laid on July 13, 1951, and its construction finished in 1956. Hanumanthaiah wanted this structure to outshine High Court Building, which was constructed by the British. Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha could be worth over Rs 3,900 crores.
Spirit of freedom
The new parliament building project called central vista began in 2019, but Narendra Modi faced criticism for going ahead with the project during the pandemic period. Similarly, Hanumanthaiah faced criticism for the construction cost of Vidhan Soudh
Shiv Sena slams Modi government for Central Vista project amid a pandemic.
Watch | Nero’s Pride: Not Even a Pandemic Can Stop the Central Vista Project.
Independent people like Narendra Modi and Hanumanthaiah have a mind of their own. It is this quality that their beliefs and principles are well-rooted and cannot be swayed by the opinions of others. The decision they had taken was based on what they believed and not on the expectations or judgements of society. ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
The spirit of freedom should first make us responsible enough to full fill of our duties towards the nation, and then only we have the right to demand. A leader like Modi has a spirit of independence and self-belief that helps them to get on with plans instead of being concerned with other people’s opinions. One Modi cannot do the magic. As a leader, as a responsible citizen, he is doing his duty, but what we are doing. We are concerned about our rights to demand, and the need to do our duties does not come to mind.
We go to government offices and get ready to pay a bribe to get our work done. Corruption occurs when a person in a position of authority is looking to accept money, and another is ready to pay money to get the work done. Giving and receiving both are a crime done to society and the nation.
Previously, peaceful protest was one of the ways to get freedom. In this day and age, there are people who thrive on protest. We can see people who gather in a group and do not know why they are there. The group will come to receive money paid to them to shout slogans. A new word was coined for these people, they are Andolan Jeevi.
We should not ask what my country has done to me. We should be ready to do for our country. We need not worry about the result; it will be instant and good results only. What we do should break free from routine, agree to all to break free from routine, and agree to all that’s new and out of the ordinary. The spirit of freedom is as much about our rights as our responsibilities towards the nation. Independence Day is an occasion for us to determine to be responsible citizens who do duties before asking for the right.