Saranya’s poem highlights India’s struggle with inequality, violence, and oppression for women, urging the nation to redefine freedom as inclusive and equitable for all, exclusively for Different Truths.
Happy Independence Day,
To those who taste the air,
To those who walk unburdened,
To those whose freedom is fair.
But what of us, the ones
Who linger in shadows deep,
Who wear the chains of silence,
Who are told to dream, but not to leap?
Freedom, they say, is ours,
Yet we stand on broken ground,
Where justice is but an echo,
Where our cries make no sound.
In Kolkata’s narrow alleys,
In Kerala’s winding lanes,
In Lucknow’s crowded streets,
Our bodies bear the stains.
They say the fight is over,
That our battle’s long been won,
But we still march through fire,
Under a sun that blinds, not warms.
We’re bound by tardy customs,
By the weight of every gaze,
By the words that wound and silence,
By the fear that never strays.
Our stories are whispered secrets,
Our truths are buried deep,
In the soil of a nation’s conscience,
Where promises lie asleep.
So, what is freedom, truly,
If not the right to breathe?
To walk with head held high,
To love, to laugh, to grieve?
Until the day we’re equal,
In heart, in voice, in mind,
Our freedom remains a question,
A dream we’ve yet to find.
So let this day be a reminder,
Of the work still left to do,
For freedom is not just a banner,
It’s the right to simply be you.
Picture design by Anumita Roy
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