Skip to main content

What freedom means to me, during the pandemic




“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls"


These are lines penned by renowned poet Rabindranath Tagore, during a time of bloodshed and captivity. More than a century later, these lines still resonate with the average millennial, for we find ourselves in a crisis never met before.


As Tagore says, we may be bound in our homes, but we are still free men and women in our hearts and minds. The virus may have locked us up in our homes for months, but it definitely hasn't strangled our minds with metal chains. In fact, it has provided plenty of food for thought about the future of our nations.

We have still found a way to regain our lost freedom by letting our minds explore endlessly.

As a citizen, freedom to me means being able to express my thoughts freely. This pandemic has managed to accomplish the impossible - breaking the vicious cycle of our hectic schedules. (This freedom from our previously monotonous lives has let us unleash our forgotten selves.) We have begun to explore new boundaries and in the process, this newfound freedom has helped us rediscover ourselves. More than us human beings, nature finally got a chance to breathe, replenish and heal itself. This has marked this experience with several firsts, of people in Bihar catching a glimpse of the Himalayas from their balconies! It took a deadly pandemic to grab the freedom we knew, to restore that of Nature's.

As a fellow student in the times of COVID-19, freedom has also come in the form of quality education knocking our doors. We students now have the freedom to learn anything we fancy, all with a few clicks. We no longer have to empty our pockets to receive quality education, for it has become available to the average student more than ever before.


Freedom is a birthright. COVID-19 has changed the way we define freedom and perceive life. What we once thought unimaginable is now reality and what we recognized as ordinary reality is now unimaginable. We have learnt to value freedom in a deeper sense. 

Although we may have been cooped up in our homes for several frustrating months, it has forced us to ponder over the questions that desperately need an answer - what will our future look like, is freedom what we thought it was, and can we imagine again the life we once led? We have been scrambling for answers, but these questions still remain unanswered, and perhaps will remain so, in the coming future.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Letter to Thatha

The little specks of pearl in the sky Glowing and fuming, With the vapours of our memories.  In my swollen, glistening eyes, I saw the flare of your pyre in the stars, Like a spangle caught in my tears, The light of our love stretches its arms. I never knew a pain greater,  When my fingertips caressed your cold, grey folds of skin I never knew I could feel so broken inside, With scalding memories and a heart wanting justice. With last words untold, goodbyes unsaid. I never thought the day would come,  When I came home to your warm smile and open arms, But would instead be greeted by your empty chair. I never thought I would shudder and hide at your sight, Until you lay in the icy coffin like a child, Oblivious to our cries and wails. I never knew I would so badly yearn, To hear you call me one more time. I watched you become a child again. I never minded your faltering memory, Your greying eyes that often stared out in the open, I was content, With your pupils carrying a ...
1 comment
Read more

Splendid Sisters! 👧👧

Hi guys! The person who embraced my successes and adversities, the one who always gave me a quick tickle and who made me realize the purpose of life is whom I want to share about today. Dear reader, if you are an elder brother/sister to a younger sister, you should consider reading this. Most elder siblings resent their younger sisters due to their drama-queen attitude. That does happen, a sister can be a brat sometimes. But, you know what? They can be heavenly blessings. They are cherubic sweet little angels, ready to bless your day and mine with a captivating smile (and no sister can be as sweet as mine, I bet!) who are ready to sacrifice anything for the defence of yours. Even if they have to take the second pick, they (almost) never protest. My sister is no less. She is classy, cool, carefree, hardworking, ideal and witty, the perfect figure of the today's independent modern woman's characteristics. She has an unbelievable ability - she can maintain size zero with...
4 comments
Read more

Words - The Sounds of Human Emotion

Words, those beautiful masterpieces, with letters carefully handpicked like fragrant herbs from a garden. A word can lift a soul and yet shatter hearts for good. The letters, if plucked with grace, strung together carry free emotion trapped in a heart, and some crushed under the weight of pursed lips. A word can be a weapon to glue souls together and yet rip them apart. Some inspire a warm flush of butterflies, and some a distant, forgotten ache in the heart. Many carry the smell of midnight oil and the scholar’s despair, of a battle left unconquered and unfinished. Infusing the beauty of thought in words is an art perfected by some over years, some a lifetime. I let the art soak in my blood and veins, sink deep in my heart, until I truly own and cherish it as a whole. I let it run through my fingertips and watch them create profound meaning, as the art sculpts clumps of letters into a masterpiece to leave an imprint on every witness. A pen, no greater than the humble pencil, has been ...
Post a Comment
Read more