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Independence is not just freeing from another

One simple but profound understanding that needs to take root in us is that—dependence on anybody or anything is a loss of independence.

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24 Aug 2024, 11:30 pm

Indians around the world raise a patriotic flag on August 15. And rightly so. It marks a highly cherished memory of a relentless fight to be free. It reminds every Indian about the dawn of a new beginning. The beginning of an era of deliverance from the clutches of British colonialism. In lieu of which nearly 1,000 people of Indian heritage gathered at the High Commission of India in London to celebrate the 78th Independence Day, with music, dance and patriotic chants.

With the world gearing up to AI, we saw rigorous preparation to secure the celebrations. Snipers, elite SWAT commandos, kite catchers and sharpshooters were positioned at strategic locations for the security of the Prime Minister and other VVIP guests at Red Fort in New Delhi. Additionally, 700 AI-based facial recognition CCTV cameras got installed in central Delhi. These cameras have high-resolution pan-tilt-zoom features, allowing identification of a person from a distance, the officials said.

While it could be argued that this independence is at the macro-level of freedom and therefore one that directly affects us at the micro levels of our being, I see the mantra of ‘Be Free’ penetrating the personal economic freedom, without which any freedom in the grapples of the materialistic world we live in, will be washed away. I sought woman empowerment from an early age, but was wise to know that for that magnanimous idea I would need to be financially independent first. One simple but profound understanding that needs to take root in us is that—dependence on anybody or anything is a loss of independence.

A few years back, in a leadership yoga talk I was giving to the youth employees at the Deloitte Company I was asked: How do you not depend on something other than you or outside you?

The simple answer is: By being self-dependent.

And for that you first need to know who you are. What your self really means. Upanishads are the last part of Vedic literature hence that is also called Vedanta. The literal meaning of Vedanta, or the end of Vedas, but not the end of knowledge. It leads to the beginning of knowing yourself. This is the ultimate independence from the shackles of hearing, reading or imbibing the truth from outer sources.

Independence here is being free of dependance of learnt and taught knowledge. I further explained. Sadhana, or rigorous practices and yoga lifestyle, that helps you experience the truth. In today’s parlance it starts with self-love and self-care. Swadhyaya, something we silently practiced when I was a monk, is self-observation, watching and analysing your thoughts, knowing that rubbish leads to identification with the grandeur, and your super-self is resting right inside you.

Rightly so then it does usher in a new beginning, a dawn of unfiltered happy independence.