Today, the tricolour will be hoisted. The brass band will play the Jana Gana Mana. Politicians will stand straight—well, as straight as one can while still checking if the TV cameras are catching the good side of the face. There will be speeches—oh, the speeches! About our glorious past, our bright future, and our “unity in diversity” (which in some cases is as real as a dietician eating an oily samosa).

And we will clap.

Because clapping is easy. But, thinking, now that’s harder, right?

This Independence Day, I pray—not for more flagpoles, not for bigger fireworks, not even for that rare miracle of a pothole-free road. No, I pray for something simpler: that the people of India, especially you educated ones, get back your independence of mind. That we reclaim that precious, God-given ability to think for ourselves, without the remote control of any political party changing our mental channels every few minutes.

Look around.

You’ve been conditioned. Like parrots in a politician’s aviary, repeating slogans we don’t understand, applauding policies we haven’t read, judging people not by their character, but by the length of their kurta or tikka on their forehead. We nod wisely at lies because the man telling them smiles at us in a certain way—or because someone ‘Doorknob’ on TV told us he was “our man.”

I say, enough.

This Independence Day, let us start scrutinizing before swallowing, analysing before accepting. Let us stop being intellectual fast-food eaters, gobbling up whatever headline or WhatsApp forward is served hot. Let us look a lie in the eye and say, “Sorry, wrong table. I didn’t order this.”

And when we see a bully, let’s stop calling him “strong.” Let’s call him what he is—a coward hiding behind chest size, or muscle, mob, and microphone. Let’s raise our voices when we see powerless people crushed, nuns jailed, women assaulted, or minorities pushed to the wall.

Don’t just outsource your outrage to the next social media trend.

Because here’s the truth—your real independence is not about whether your borders are free. It’s about whether your minds are.

Seventy-eight years ago, we won freedom from foreign rulers.

Now, we must win freedom from local manipulators; those who feed us half-truths for breakfast, anger for lunch, and fear for dinner.

You can do this, but only if you choose to think—not along party lines, not along caste lines, but along truth lines.

So, when you stand today and sing the anthem, don’t just mouth the words—think about them. Think about the India you want. Think about whether your opinions are truly yours, or rented from the last speech you heard.

And after the flag is hoisted, after the sweets are eaten, after the politicians leave in their flashing cars—keep thinking.

Because the day we stop thinking for ourselves, is the day we lose our independence.

And as I wish you a joyful Independence Day, I also beseech you to get back your independent thinking…!

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