A student was reasonably good at studies in his school. He was quite interested in literature and arts. As soon as it came to choose a subject between science and arts, he went for science. Why?? Because, most importantly, it was the most secure option to make a career in terms of getting a job and making money. Secondly, learning science gives him a status symbol in the society as an intelligent person. (both reasons quite true in India at least).
A person is getting ready for a party. What is the common criteria for getting ready or selecting any set of dresses? Does one decide it on the basis of how comfortable he feels and whether he likes it or not or it is decided according to what people will think of his appearance or if it carries any brand value in the society.
In both the examples, given above, I am trying to demonstrate the idea of independence. Independence (स्वतंत्र) means self-governance (स्व + तंत्र) which implies that your decisions are dominated by you not by others. As soon as, one's decisions are affected by other's perspectives or way of thinking, he becomes dependent on others (परतंत्र).
If you ask somebody whether he wants to be independent or not. The answers is invariably 'yes'. But, independence is not only about fulfilling your physical necessities on your own, rather it includes independence of thought as well and to me, that is the most important aspect because one can never be fully independent in terms of physical needs. He has to rely on others in a mutually fulfilling way. But, one can always be independent in his thoughts without taking concerns from others.
Normally, our thinking is affected by many factors. It can be common assumptions accepted in our society, a saying by a great personality or a reference from a book. I am not saying that these assumptions are always wrong. But, if we blindly follow them, where is our authority in those thoughts. This way, many a times, we end up being a person what others want us to be rather than being a person what we want to be. So, the important thing is if we check these values on our own rights before accepting them. Once evaluated on our rights, we own those values and then, even if we follow them, its our independent thought not from others.
