Freedom, can You feel it?

A blank page stared at me and then shouted frantically, “ Why don’t you get up and do something else, you Slave.” I could have done that but I wasn’t going to let the blank page be the master of me. Although I had let the “impulse to write about freedom” be the master of me, apparently.

The predicament was killing me. So I thought why shouldn’t I get up and do something else. A change of pace has done wonders for people, maybe a change of masters could do some good for me as well.
I loved it all out there; the poking sunlight of July, Shimmering images of plants in the pond water I was passing by and the little dust wafting below my shoes as I kept walking. I loved the change, it felt significant. Maybe because it was recent. For a change to be taken seriously it has to be recent. Layers of times trample over it to reduce its value all the time.

Do we think about Freedom all the time?

Freedom came to mind at that moment. Sure, my country is free and autonomous independently and by that association, I have the freedom as well. Although I don’t think about it all the time. Other people don’t contemplate their freedom all the time either, I am sure of it. If they had, they would not have shut up about it. They think about Cricket, and Politicians and discuss it without a break and that's all they do. Only when someone's freedom is snubbed and taken away from them, suddenly they will be reminded of it.

 

Freedom in a film or a T.V advertisement looks very expressive. It’s always a kid running on the beach, someone standing on the hilltop with arms akimbo staring at the sunrise or jogging in the fields in the crimson light of the evening. In reality all of these things can be done and be felt good about it but in the moment you are seldom aware of the blessing that freedom is. 

 

In reality, a lot more time is spent on achieving freedom and thus it contains a lots of bloodshed, some revolutions and a great deal of public debates and rallies. As a Pakistani, I’m thinking a lot about the meanings of Freedom these days, as the Independence day is coming upon us. Although most philosophers would be happy that the question “what is freedom” is raised at least. They love questions and they are equally abstinent of providing answers. 

 

 

I am thinking of giving it some meaning of my own. It could be anything, ranging from birds stealing food from children on a beach or monkey snatching purses from tourists on hill stations in our country. All of these things are vile for the human psyche for a moment if it happens to them but from the perspective of those birds and monkeys, it’s a blessing that they can mess around with people and get away with it. That's real freedom, can't you feel it?

It’s very evident that if humans to capture every wildling, they could have done it very easily. Right now, those monkeys and birds have a freedom of choice to mess with people, if they were in a cage it could not have been possible.

Since the independence of Subcontinent in 1947, we have done a lot of stupid things without intervention from foreign entities and to me, that is an assurance of our freedom. It does not matter what you do with it, the presence of it just transcends into every decision you make. 

 

Future outcomes are still bound to the actions we perform today, but if these actions were not performed under duress and coercion, it's good enough to be called true freedom. I find it needless to evaluate, "whether or not we have freedom" pragmatically. Feeling of being free is enough to ensure that there's no one pulling your strings.