The Freedom Month Issue

By - RKM GURUGRAM
31.08.26 12:31 PM

For the August month, we asked our readers to contribute on what according to them is a big challenge facing the country today and what solution would they propose to tackle the problem. From upgrading the education system, the need for character building and reflecting on what true inner freedom is, these insightful articles provide food for thought for all of us as citizens.

India I hope we Build
​​- Charu Madan, Delhi

India, to me, has always been a country of incredible contrasts and possibilities. It is a vast and colourful tapestry woven from different cultures, languages, religions, regions, traditions, cuisines, and ways of life. This diversity is perhaps our greatest strength, but it also brings with it complexities and challenges that we cannot ignore. Almost eighty years after gaining independence, I often find myself wondering about the kind of India we are building for the generations that will come after us. We have made remarkable progress in many areas, yet we continue to struggle with poverty, gender discrimination, caste-based inequality, environmental degradation, unemployment among our youth, and several other social challenges.

When I look at these issues, I feel that there is one common thread running through many of them—the absence of meaningful education. I say this not merely as an observation, but as someone who has spent a considerable part of my life learning, teaching, working with young people, and being closely associated with the performing arts. Over the years, I have come to realise that education has the power to change not just what a person knows, but who that person becomes. The question we need to reflect on is if education is meant to simply know how to read and write or acquire qualifications? Or should true education should teach us how to think?

True Education should give us the courage to question what we are told, the wisdom to make responsible choices, and the confidence to stand up for what is right. It should teach us to recognise injustice, to speak when something is wrong, and equally importantly, to listen and understand another person's point of view.

In a nutshell, it should also prepare us for life—not just examinations. A well-educated person should be able to face failure, uncertainty, disagreement and stressful situations with some degree of grace and dignity. They should have empathy, resilience, self-respect and respect for others. These qualities, in my view, are as important as academic achievement, if not more. This is where I feel there is a significant gap in our present education system. We have become increasingly focused on marks, examinations, qualifications and competition, while the deeper purpose of education—building thoughtful, responsible and compassionate human beings—is getting lost in most situations.

If we genuinely want to address some of the larger problems facing our country, I believe the change has to begin at the grassroots level, with the way we educate our children. And at the heart of that transformation must be the teacher. We need to attract people into teaching who genuinely care about children and about the future of the country. Teaching should be seen not as a fallback career, but as one of the most important professions a person can choose. Our teachers should be respected, well compensated and given meaningful incentives so that some of the brightest and most committed minds see education as a profession worthy of their time and talent.

At the same time, teacher training needs to go beyond teaching methodologies and academic content. There should be a conscious and sustained emphasis on character building, empathy, emotional resilience, critical thinking and values. A teacher who possesses these qualities can influence generations of students in ways that no textbook ever can. I believe that if we invest in our teachers and rethink what we mean by education, the impact will eventually reach every corner of society. We will not simply produce a more literate population. We will raise young people who are brave enough to question, confident enough to speak, compassionate enough to understand others, and responsible enough to make choices that benefit not only themselves but the larger community. That I believe is the India of our dreams.

- Ramesh Dwivedee, Delhi






Developing the Future of India by Character Building of its Young Citizens
​
​- Sonali Sengupta

A big challenge facing the country today is “corruption” and “laid-back disinterested attitude towards work by many Indians.” “Corruption” arises when you think albeit in a wrong way about how a system functions. A corrupt person assumes that by bribing people, you can get your work done faster. A laid-back (tamasic) disinterested attitude towards work assumed by many workers is based on the belief, that I will work for my salary only, and get it no matter whether I show up to work every day and do my work efficiently or not. Both these types of attitudes require “character building” as a solution.


Two components of character building are “integrity” and “humility”. Integrity can be developed when the system rewards the honest person for doing the work efficiently. Basically, the system, should not reward people who are working for salaries and titles only, but are working with purpose and intentionality. Humility can be developed if the person sheds “ï know it all” attitude. Even the illumined mystic Sri Ramakrishna who was the guru of Vivekananda said, “As long as I live so long do I learn. That man or the society which has nothing to learn is already in the jaws of death”. A service-oriented attitude or seva bhav with purpose is what will create great leaders of India, as these people are not working for their own selfish means, but for a greater noble cause i.e., nation building via service to the nation. Both integrity and humility can be integrated in school curricula from middle school to high school level via character building workshops, which inculcate values of integrity and humility and then mould the students’ character by involving them in team projects that develop their honesty and humility quotient. Humility can also be inculcated by involving students in service oriented projects like serving the less privileged, by teaching them and providing the less privileged with material resources. 

The Freedom of Choice: The Value of Values
​- Subha Kannan, Bangalore

Freedom gives us something incredibly powerful: choice. 
​The choice to think, to question, to speak, to create, to disagree and to decide the course of our own lives. It is one of the greatest gifts of a free society. 
But every choice also asks something of us: What will guide that choice?
This is where values matter. 
​We often speak about values as if they are a list of qualities we should possess: honesty, respect, empathy, courage, responsibility. But values become meaningful only when they influence what we actually do. 
  • Choosing to be honest when dishonesty is easier. 
  • Respecting someone even when we disagree with them. 
  • Thinking before reacting to something online. 
  • ​Taking responsibility for a public space instead of assuming it is someone else’s problem. 
  • ​Standing up for what is right even when it is inconvenient. 
These are ordinary choices. Yet, when millions of citizens make them every day, they shape the character of a nation.   
​This is perhaps one of the challenges before India today. As opportunities expand and young people gain greater freedom, access and influence, how do we ensure that our freedom is accompanied by the values needed to use it well?   
Swami Vivekananda said, “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.”   
​Perhaps education must therefore go beyond preparing young people to succeed in life. It must help them understand themselves, make thoughtful choices and recognise that their choices have consequences beyond themselves.   
​The India we leave for the next generation will be shaped not only by the economy we build or the technology we create, but also by the everyday culture we leave behind .   
​What we choose to value today will become the world they inherit tomorrow.   
​That is why freedom of choice matters.  And that is why the value of values matters even more.   


Saurav Bisht from Rajasthan questions thoughtfully on what real freedom is. Does external freedom necessarily mean that we are internally free from our various negativities and biases? 

RKM GURUGRAM

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