Freedom is what you call as when you have the right to live, right to speak, right to do everything that is ethical and does not disobey the law of the country. Imagine what incase you were deprived of living ‘free’, if you were forced to live according to the conditions laid by others; by their choice. How many days would one survive if he were treated as a slave; after all there is a saturation point to everything in the world.
This is exactly what our freedom fighters, the men who laid down their precious lives just to free their motherland from the evil clutches of the Britishers had said. Thanks to those true patriots who fought in defence of the country, is why Today India, in her 69th year of Independence stands free as she basks in her own glory.
On account of Free India’s 69th Birthday, AnimationXpress.com brings to you the perception and thoughts of the people from the animation and comic Industry straight from their hearts.
- Importance of Independence Day in your life
- Favourite quote by a Freedom Fighter
- Your message to the youth of today
P Jayakumar (Chief Executive Officer, Toonz Media Group)
Our life today is so inexplicably busy and care-free that we forget the incessant strivings of the past which procured us what we enjoy today. The elegant tricolour on 15 August is indeed a moment to remember and pay homage to those precious drops of blood that were dripped to nourish Mother India to attain her long awaited freedom!
“Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi
Let’s not limit ourselves to physical freedom. Free your minds…Revolutionize the world with your innovative ideas! That is freedom in its true spirit. Jai Hind!
Rajiv Chilaka (Founder & CEO, Green Gold Animation)
I am a very proud Indian, and I feel really blessed to be born in Independent India. We all should be grateful to the various leaders who have contributed to India’s Independence and later its development. I sometimes wonder what I would have done if I was born during the British rule. Arts would only flourish when the country is doing well. In the last decade or so we all have seen the growth of various creative industries in India, and this growth is happening only because of the fact that people today have lesser things to worry and that is because we all are living in good economic conditions.
“Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached”- Swami Vivekananda.
My message to today’s youth is the same words of Swami Vivekananda. I have tremendous faith in the new generation of India and I believe that they will take India to greater heights that we have only dreamt off. Jai Hind!!!
Gaurav Malhotra (CEO, Artha Animation)
We used to fly kites on 15 August in Delhi, while it was just for fun but somewhere there was a kick behind seeing these kites flying high in the sky. A bed time story from my grandfather connected my dreams to a kite which flies on a thin thread with a belief that it is not there to let the kite down but to take it higher, higher and higher! That taught me the meaning of life, and I live on that belief and it gives me immense pleasure of growing in virtual reality of Animation.
“Don’t see others doing better than you, beat your own records every day, because success is a fight between you and yourself” – Chandra Shekhar Azad
Believe in your strength and connect the strings, no matter how short it is and you will find your way forward.
Abhijeet Kini (Independent Comic publisher and co-founder Kini Merch)
Independence Day is a day to remind us that our freedom definitely is not free. It came at costs. But unfortunately, many may just realize and remember these things only on this day, and the rest of the year it’s all taken for granted.
“Give me blood and I will give you freedom” – Subhas Chandra Bose
Be very responsible, not just towards your family, but also towards your co-citizens and countrymen.
Akshay Dhar (Founder, MetaDesi Comics)
What does Independence Day mean to me… that’s a hard question to answer. At its most basic it is a day to celebrate not simply “throwing off the foreign yolk” or “India for Indians” or something like that. Those things are important and critical to where the day came from – but what the day ideally should be and what I like to think off is that it’s the day an idea was born.
India had many freedom fighters and many varied movements, but it was that of Mahatma Gandhi that took deep roots and won in the end.
Not violence, but peace. Not anger, but forgiveness. Not exclusion, but inclusion. Not belief, but an open mind.
The ideas of the Mahatma were powerful but those who supported his ideals were like a mother struggling to give birth and when independence came, the starting point of so much of what we became from then was the ideas of the Mahatma being born into this world. It was the day an independent new kind of nation stepped blinking into the light and took its first steps, full of hope and idealism for a better future for all.
In today’s circumstances, the following quote is my favourite because I see us struggling with these ideals and coming dangerously close to failing in most of them because of our prejudices, fixations, irrational systems and backward thinking.
“The roots of violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worships without sacrifice, politics without principles.” – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Never stop learning and keeping an open mind.
The world we inhabit is a shockingly small place that at first seems so very big, and life seems so long but is painfully shorter than we realize until it’s often too late.
Embrace learning, openness, kindness, humanity and never stop trying to be happy and enjoy the things you have, while you have them. Be grateful for what you are while you strive to be better and never regret the roads untaken because what is past is past. All that truly matters is the road ahead and the past is nothing but the book to remember and learn from so that you do not repeat mistakes, yours or anyone else’s.
Vijay Sampath (CEO, ACK Media)
To value freedom and respect the sacrifices that went towards earning freedom, equality and democracy.
“Be the change that you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Contribute to society by being honest, just and help the millions of fellow citizens who are stilled trapped in poverty and inequality.
Rajani Thindiath (Editor, Tinkle Comics)
When we were kids, it was all about flag hoisting, singing nationalistic songs with great fervor and watching the parade on TV. We didn’t really understand what freedom was about, apart from what we read in our textbooks.
Then I read Gora by Rabindranath Tagore, a wonderful book with diametric personalities, each with a distinct notion of what freedom of choice means. It is also about the weight of their choices at a personal level with its consequences on society, and therefore the nation. It was a book that widened my perception of what freedom means, about individual choices that shape destinies and write histories.
To me, this special day is about saluting all those who thought freedom was a cause worth fighting for. It is about valuing this freedom in all its shades – of thoughts, beliefs, roles and identities – as the bedrock of a democratic nation.
It is not just a line, but the entirety of the beautifully-inspiring poem written by Tagore “Where the Mind is Without Fear.”
We do not have countries seeking to colonize us today. And yet we are often bound by our thoughts. When we put limits to our ideas, we limit our own potential. As humans we seem to be compelled to draw boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Let us move beyond these limits, let us explore beyond boundaries, let us not accept limits of circumstances, of attitudes, on what we can achieve.
Supreet Manchanda (Founder, SuperSikh Comics)
I am born in India but have lived in many countries globally and am now American. So I have witnessed how the occasion has been celebrated in various countries. The question is what independence do we celebrate? Is it one from oppressors or from slavery or one from one’s own mind and is often a reminder of how one becomes independent and yet stays in mental servitude due to norms cultural taboos and behaviors long after the colonizers have left. Independence Day is a reminder to study all areas where one is oppressed or oppresses creating mental bonds of captivity
“To be free is not merely to cast off chains but to live in a way that enhances and respects the
freedom of others” – Nelson Mandela.
“Bombs and pistols do not make revolution. The sword of revolution is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas” – Bhagat Singh.
Do not be afraid. Embrace your fear and it will disappear and you will remain having walked through fear it loses control over you. Stand and embrace the journey of life fully. This is a wondrous time to be alive. Do not listen to the naysayers, think big, do big!!
Jatin Varma (Founder, Comic Con India)
It is an important day, gives one an opportunity to look back at the terrible sacrifices by so many, so that we today can be truly free and live our lives to the fullest.
“Do or Die” – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Considering that I am one of them, not really sure if I can provide any sort of message to them.
V G Narendra (Managing Trustee, Indian Institute of Cartoonists)
Independence Day reminds us of the long Freedom Fight lead by our brave leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
“Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, hail the Soldier, hail the Farmer”- Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Learn to be honest, that is our strength.
Learn to be brave, that is our spirit.
Learn to be considerate, that is in our blood.
Long live Democracy. Long live India.
Rishi Kumar (Creator and Publisher, AAN Comics)
Freedom to me means to have courage to acquire values (Integrity, compassion and sacrifice). To awaken inner consciousness to stay alert to wrong thoughts and say no to incorrect actions. Freedom means to abolish slavery to negative attitude.
“You be the change you wish to see in the World” – Mahatma Gandhi
Keep young minds ignited to discipline, dedication to duty and courage to pursue and achieve excellence. And finally, be sensitive to nature, fellow beings and animals. Keep our planet Green and Clean for future generations.
”Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” – John. F. Kennedy
Tamal Saha (Illustrator, SpeechBubble Entertainment)
To be true, nothing much; other than treating it as a regular holiday this is just one of those days when I become a little too patriotic maybe.
I remember a quote from Chandrashekhar Azad – “Do not compete with others, if you can beat yourself; because success is a fight between you and yourself.
Be the change that you want to see.
