Freedom

I love India.

Despite everything that’s bad in it, I love it. It’s so close to my heart and I do genuinely love the people there.

It’s… It’s just that no one gets a chance. We’re all so tortured and fighting to barely see the light. There’s so much color in the country and so much to live for. Yet, it’s so goddamn hard to dream of materializing your goals while you’re there. It’s so unfortunate that most of the people in India are forced to work on stuff they don’t want to do.

There’s just been so much stolen away from right in front of our eyes.

The freedom to dream, without having your ambitions mocked. The freedom to live, without having to sacrifice yourself for your family’s nourishment. The freedom to security, without fearing for the safety of your loved ones. The freedom to be confident, in that we come from a beautiful place.

Today, all of us are just stuck in the rat race wondering as to whether we’re better than another. But, when you take a deeper glance at your soul, it does strike you.

We simply may not have the freedom to dream of becoming what we truly want to be.

It’s sad, and it makes me sad just thinking about it. India has so much culture, so much tradition, so many fascinating stories and so many people that were responsible for the beauty of the country as it stands today. Yet, it’s overshadowed by the many many problems that we face on a day-to-day basis.

I don’t want to leave the old grandmother begging for money on the street, I don’t want to ignore the mother and child that taps on the car’s window to get some food. I don’t want to have to see all of our NGOs be so poorly nourished, mistreated and corrupt that they’re only making a minimal difference in such a large country. But, at the end of the day, I’m a hypocrite. I shy away from problems of that scale because I don’t see the end to it.

I really wish that India wasn’t a third world country. It’s not easy to even blame the government either. Solving Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for everyone is easier said than done. It’s an immense problem that we suffer with today.

Despite my words, I don’t take any action towards remedy, because I don’t believe that I’m strong enough to move a monolith like India all by myself.

I wish we had youngsters in positions of power.
I wish we had politicians that truly spoke for the people.
I wish we looked forward to the government rolling out new changes with the same anxiety that we have for patches in games.

It’s because it’s all so real that it hurts. It’s because it’s all so real that I so desperately wish it was true. I do wish that India was richer. I wish that we could look at each other and be happy in that we can enjoy life together rather than view each other as competition or rivals. I wish that all of us were rich enough, that we were free enough, to be comparable to the citizens of Khelt from the Wandering Inn.

The Necrocracy of Khelt; A kingdom where people did what they wanted to do. A place where people genuinely loved what they did, were happy with their lives and wished the best for those around them.

India, as it stands, makes me have to harden my soul because there’s only so much I can help without going broke; without running out of time; without reaching as many people as I can. I really do wish we were nicer to each other and that none of us had to do work that we didn’t enjoy.

Because that’s what I see when I come to the US. I see people enjoying their work. To be free from malice and to genuinely wish the best for someone when you have an interaction with them sometime in the day.

It’s so beautiful that it hurts when I can’t see it happening back home. It hurts that we can’t see each other and hope for the best for people. That you can love someone for who they are and support them without worrying about whether your footing would be lost in the process. That you could love someone without worrying about whether the sky would fall down anyday once you stopped being part of the rat race.

It’s so terrifyingly tragic. I just want my home to be a place of love, but the road to getting there is impossible.