libertà

Freedom from fear is the freedom
I claim for you my motherland!
Freedom from the burden of the ages, bending your head,
breaking your back, blinding your eyes to the beckoning
call of the future;
Freedom from the shackles of slumber wherewith
you fasten yourself in night's stillness,"
-- Tagore

“It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming of my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn’t sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it’s all you’ve got, that freedom is an universe of possibility. And the choice you make between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.”
-- Shantaram

"Papa, does freedom mean that we can do whatever we feel like?"
-- Samar (Age - 7)

" If freedom means corruption,yes, we are free
If freedom means that thousands of children sleep hungry and naked,yes, we are free

If 15th August means that we're all locked up in our homes because the country is on high alert, are we really free or merely 'independent'? - a statement written in some corner of our constitution

Is freedom just a metaphorical Statement which sees itself being translated into flying kites on our rooftops?"
-- Samar (Age - 18)