"iNDePeNDeNCe": HoW We ReaLiZe iT?

       Come 15th August and the patriotic fervour sets in on the Indian crowd. With loud speakers blaring patriotic songs, songs that proclaim India's rich cultural heritage, the Unity in diversity, songs that describe the heroic acts of our freedom fighters and the agony they had to go through to bring India the much acclaimed Independence from the colonial rule; With the  national flag being hoisted in every Gali, the national anthem being sung at every gathering, the feeling of Indianness gets escalated that results in the electric sensation running down the spine saying: 'I'm proud to be an Indian'. With the young India taking to the streets holding flags, rising their voices in unison for the 'Vande Mataram' and the 'Inquilab  Zindabad' hope rises in the Indian hearts that we've got a glorious future ahead.
       It is only a matter of time when this fleeting sensation of patriotism withers away and we start being our normal cynical self, accusing India of not being able to live upto the dreams of its freedom fighters, resorting to the cliched phrase:' 65 years on Independence and look at where we stand. The same dire state of destitution, politicians bred in corruption, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer theory and then we say in mock despair:'Kuch nahi ho sakta is desh ka'.
    And saying so we turn towards the USA or any other assumed Utopian country for comfort.The sort of dominance and the hold that the West has on the world and India in particular infuriates us but left with no other choice, we resort to aping the West. Imperialism has discarded its earlier image of colonization, it now means dominance, having a very loud say in the country's internal affairs. So India and Indians have been reduced to mere puppets in the hands of the West; And so we have more T-shirts shouting 'I love NY' than those that even talk about India, Hard Rock has crept deeper into our minds the melody that swayed India. English has become an inseparable component in our lives leaving us with no other option than to make it our 1st language-followed of course by the native ones. India has always been a safe haven for all the MNC'S - read as companies from the West- for they well know that imported stuff appeals more to the Indians than the home made ones.
     True, India has managed to rid itself from the colonial rule on this very day 65 years ago, But the West still manages to shape our thoughts and the country's future at large. With the trade rules liberalised and the foreign investments made open in the 90's the MNC's now have a lion's share in the Indian economy. With the FDI probably to be made open in the retail sector in the near future, we are only one step closer from being completely dependent on the West, the era of Imperialism is bound to return, Of course this time there would be no struggle for freedom and the chances of being liberated are very bleak.