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Happy 63rd Republic Day to fellow Indians inland and abroad. It’s a day to celebrate how far India has come since independence. India was an infant independent kid in 1950 when a self-governing constitution was being put together. Much has changed since then. Much of the issues have been addressed, but plenty of them remain unfixed. The nation feels young, at times a rebellious teenager no less! There’s pride and passion of achieving new heights. Plenty of dreams have been fulfilled, but plenty remain untouched.

With the goals we set out to achieve through self-governance and through our constitution, how many have we achieved? The national GDP is growing by leaps and bounds, yet millions of Indians still sleep at night without a single meal to feed the belly. Education system produces incredible talent for foreign countries and their foreign companies. Political system is muddled with corruption, and people have to take it to the streets to make the government realize that self-policing of power produces disastrous results.

Of course, not everything is bad. More and more youngsters are finding it feasible to have access to good education. They are pursuing entrepreneurial adventures. Slowly but surely we are realizing that a population of more than a billion doesn’t need a billion doctors and engineers. It’s a tough fight trying to escape the shackles of history, but the change is here to stay.

There are so many things wrong with this country, but then so many things are right too! For all that is beautiful and rightfully OURS, I salute you mother India. Your beloved children gave up much so that I could roam freely on the streets of India and live a long enough happy life to tell the stories of what it feels like to be an Indian.

Divya Mistry