Freedom — A burden lifted
A sunny April afternoon, I managed to find a seat by the window in a crowded bus headed home. The whole flock of aspiring artists and other talented people — enthusiastic about their own little fields, and a couple of hard working future doctors and engineers, all left the same classroom at the Medical and Engineering entrance coaching centre, and boarded the first bus. Bags of three students on my lap, I managed to still find a way to stick my head above it, and silently question my life choices. But my thoughts were interrupted by a phone call the girl next to me was making. She was apologizing to her friend for forgetting her birthday, and was nearly in tears by the end of the call. The one thing that kept ringing in my ears was that she hadn’t left the hostel for 8 months, and this was her first trip home in a long time, and this wasn’t by choice. Only because her family wanted a doctor at home, she had to toil her way through rigorous coaching classes, and wasn’t allowed home apparently, until her exams were done. Troubled by this, I was temporarily grateful that — be it right or wrong — I was at least making my own choices.
This is the story of so many people around us. Every now and then we hear repetitive incidents of how people are forced into career choices, relationships, and jobs against their will. Being forced to take up a job due to the inability of receiving other choices, is one thing. But being forced to work somewhere just to satisfy the emotional needs of someone else, for the sake of status or popularity, is an entirely different thing. The second case is plainly restricting someone from living a life of their choice. And this can be quite hard on them.
The funny thing is that, it doesn’t always take other people to do this to us. Very often, we ourselves fear living a life that doesn’t align with what is expected of us — choosing the high ranking officer’s job we’re clearly not cut out for, or continuing our lives in a toxic relationship, and so on, all because we’re afraid of being looked down upon, by the society. With the freedom to choose, express and live one’s own life, half of the burden would be lifted. The world would have missed out on so many geniuses, had they all been restricted from pursuing their dreams.
With that said, one must also realize that true freedom of choice is nothing short of a luxury these days. It is almost impossible to exist entirely uninfluenced with digital media platforms eating up all the space in your head. Be wary of the content you consume. Choose the right influences, and don’t let the inner moral compass die down. Freedom is truly a topic that requires deep exploration, because boundaries are inevitable. With this short read however, I hope we learn to refrain from imposing our personal choices on someone else, and grant them their fundamental rights.
