Is freedom free for all ?

Dr Sumedha Kushwaha *

To all those waiting for the lockdown to get over and cursing this pandemic- I request you to not curse it ! Think, what this lockdown has taught us ? The lockdown has taught us the core value and concept of freedom.

Imagine, if we were to be confined in our homes for another year- the homes would lose the homely feeling-they would become prisons. If we weren’t able to meet our friends and video calls became the way of life-no teenager would be any more interested in mobile phones.

The freedom to meet, hold hands, hug someone, visit someone’s place without a mask, breathe without tension of which micro-organism and which of its variants is going in our lungs-all these small things have become the bigger and most important now !

Freedom of not being able to enjoy community is a curse for beings who are meant to share and care.

Freedom is a very personal matter, it is how we feel and act ! It’s a way of life-And who do you think has the ability to cage us ? Do you think it’s any person or place that makes you feel-the bondage ? No, freedom lies in the mind of mortal human beings, it boils down to nothing, but is a matter of choice.

Freedom should not be a topic to be discussed because it’s a birthright. It should be so freely available that there are no questions and unnecessary discussions around it. But, when we have laws and rights around it, it means it is still not free.

The abstract that exists in the brain about not being free is that what bonds you and chains you down.

If you have to ask someone for permission to live it means either you are living the wrong way or with the wrong person. In any case, it calls for action. However, when you will take action for your freedom–the world will put major question marks on your character.

And it is really demotivating to even think about the fact that something that shouldn’t be questioned is questioned even more when you have to access it with permission which is actually free.

When we read about lines like - Follow your heart ! Think big ! Your dreams are the only truth ! We forget the fact that we haven’t even given ourselves that much freedom that we can even dream.

Some of us are so scared that we don’t even give ourselves the permission to imagine, visualize and listen to our hearts. Because the songs it sings has many curse words, the lipstick it wants to wear is too red, the dress it wants to wear is too short, the food it wants to eat is oily yet so tasty, the girl it wants to dates is so beautiful, the dream it wants to see is too big to achieve. And we immediately take away that freedom and tell it to keep shut and be practical.

Practicality brings order, but passion is fodder for freedom. The chains of the mind and the lock we have put on look all golden and very attractive but chains are chains and the key to that lock lies in courage ! When we take away the basic right to dream-it’s a sin ! If you have to be yourself with someone else’s permission- that is not freedom. Increasing the freeness is seldom dominance over what-ifs, is what I think freedom is all about.

If I am told to give you just a small window that views freedom, it’s the control over willingness with happenings all around. Traveling is freedom for some but a job for journalists, driving is freedom for some teens but a job for an uber driver.

I am trying to put something simple, doing what we like does not come all under the umbrella of freedom but also ‘at any time’ speaks the remaining. A window that breezes in the winds of freedom is not the end of freedom but your command over the willpower to have the full rights on when to open and close the window speaks of true freedom.

Your acceptance over any speed of the wind is what freedom is. So, acceptance and command over choosing are the two things that kept me to be who I am willing to be.

I know at times we are stuck with people we never wanted to be stuck with. I know at times you get into a job you never wanted to be in, and at times like this-freedom is what you cry for. But many think that running away will give them freedom at times like this. Trust me-remember what I said, accept the trapped situation-laugh at your pain for a while, you will get to see what’s next you know what ?

You will have the command over your choice, that’s when you will accept the speed of the wind from the window and enjoy the will to open and close at any time you want. Accept your situation, trust me-it’s super funny and easy !