On this day, celebrated as our country's Independence Day, one can't help but feel nostalgic. I remember the early morning ritual of ironing my uniform and putting on white canvas shoes. The warmth of the heated clothes and the pep in my walk with those clean white shoes, ready for the march parade, brought comfort, knowing it was still a holiday. Other than that, nothing much seems to excite me.

Being the 74th year of celebration, I thought I needed to go beyond the usual and change that narrative.

All these years, our political establishment made sure to remind the nation that we freed ourselves from invaders. They focused all their energies on that, making it more of a geographical achievement. So much so, our patriotism is gauged by our reaction to what is happening at our borders and beyond, not within. It is about time we shift our focus inward. This is not to be pessimistic because we have achieved a lot since independence. At the same time, many things we preach but seldom practice are becoming norms, and this trend is disturbing. I am listing a few:

We have elections but don't respect the verdict.

We want development but don't want to pay taxes.

We want a government job but don't want to work.

Having a criminal record is an added qualification to fight elections.

We are more scared of the police than burglars.

We clean our houses but mess up the neighbourhood.

We take pride in second-generation Indian-origin citizens of another country and forget to applaud our own.

The list goes on.

All is not lost. So on this day, let us all Indians resolve to think about the above and make amends for real independence.