I was exactly six when India became a free country. What a day that was. Memory being what it is, I only remember the mad exultation all around and three close-knit families from the neighbourhood piling into a large van to go see the lights in south Bombay. Victoria Terminus all lit up. The Municipal Corporation too. The Old Lady of Bori Bunder? I’m not sure. What I do remember is thousands of people milling around, grinning without reason.
Winning independence for the country was not winning freedom for citizens. That happened only three years later. I was nine when the Constitution of India came into force and we were granted the rights to equality, freedom of religion, cultural practice, education and, most importantly, to freedom of speech and expression. This is the freedom I fight for as a journalist and writer.
