Freedom

Jones came to school dressed in an orange shirt, white trousers, blue belt, and green suede shoes which he had been eyeing for some   time now. He used this opportunity to convince his rich uncle from Chennai to buy it for him! Muthu came empty-handed. When his turn to share his expression of independence came up, he gestured to an old, shrivelled little man with a crown of white hair, and an almost toothless but mischievous smile, seated under a tree. Muthu introduced his great grandfather who had accompanied him to school that day.

Radha Miss asked in a solemn voice, "What is Independence?" “Freedom from foreigners," chanted the class in unison. "What is freedom to you, Muthu?" "To be able to speak my mind, to be heard, to choose what I want to do, when I want to do it," said Muthu. "To be able to decide not to go to school and sleep or play cricket instead," said Jones in undertones.

Those next to him sniggered. Radha Miss chose to ignore the sniggering. It was Bala’s turn to answer next. "Responsibility," said Bala. Jones gaped at him. "Can you explain that, Bala?" asked Radha Miss of her favourite pupil.

"It is simple. When you are free, you can decide to do or not do a lot of things. For it to enrich you or be productive for someone else around you, you need to choose carefully and think it through. There in lies responsibility,"

Bala said. Muthu wanted to almost clap for his friend. He was so impressed by his answer. Radha Miss concluded, "You are correct. So is Muthu. At a national level, it is about liberty and self governance.

About pride in our country, its achievements, in ourselves. Freedom is individual, too, but can impact all those around us as well. That is why we have laws and regulations. This Independence Day, you are welcome to come up with any exhibit of your choice that relates to freedom or independence.

Of course, there will be flag hoisting and an address from our principal, followed by snacks.... Now about what Jones wanted... We will also have freedom from routine that day since we will not have any regular classes!” Bala, Jones, and Muthu discussed what they would do for their exhibit. While his friends zeroed in pretty fast, Muthu just could not come up with anything clever enough in his opinion. He remained undecided even on Independence Day eve.

Independence Day dawned and each one in the class was curious to know what their mates had decided to bring up as exhibits. Bala had drawn a huge map of India and fi lled it with pictures of people of various religions/ regions holding hands. He had written the pledge at the bottom of the chart. Varun had created a medley of his favourite patriotic songs and he sang them. He made up with gusto what he lacked in tune.