What does freedom really mean to each one of us? Is being able to breathe freely true freedom? Is being away from home freedom? Or is it something much more valuable in a larger sense?
We attempt to follow rules, yet we constantly feel the urge to make our own decisions, but not entirely on our terms.
How often do we see countries fighting wars to secure basic rights such as food, land, and water? When we compare ourselves to such adverse situations, we as Indians appear truly free.
However, it ultimately boils down to the small details we consider freedom in our daily lives.
As young children, we yearn for the freedom to make our own choices, unbound by the rules set by schools and parents, yet we begin to value their intentions only when we step into an unforgiving world – unarmed, without any security or certainty.
In a way, we move from being protected from consequences to being fully responsible for them, and this sudden weight often makes freedom feel heavier than it once appeared.
Was this the freedom we hoped for throughout our childhood? Freedom to do as we like, good or bad, freedom to tread any path we choose. It is still freedom, but at what cost?
This is something we must ask ourselves. The realization that every choice silently demands accountability is what makes many of our long-awaited freedoms feel strangely incomplete.
In college, every student wants the freedom to choose the company they wish to get placed in.
However, dreams only come true when we work towards them, often overlooking the fact that it was us who initially had the freedom to choose our subjects. Moreover, this in no sense implies freedom from hard work or discipline while chasing those dreams.
The more options we have, the more pressure we feel to choose right, and this paradox often makes freedom look like a burden rather than a blessing.
If everyone had the freedom to choose any college they wanted, many of us would not be here at BITS. We earned our place by working hard and clearing an exam—but that alone does not guarantee success in life.
At every stage, there is always another goal waiting for us: the next exam, the next job, the next milestone. We keep believing that true freedom lies just beyond the next achievement, only to realize that the finish line keeps moving.
Freedom is perhaps the most beautiful yet painstaking desire of humankind. Over the years, none of us truly know what absolute freedom means.
The definition of freedom varies from person to person. What may seem like freedom to one individual may not hold the same meaning for another. For some, freedom is the absence of interference, while for others, it is the power to shape their own lives meaningfully.
On a spiritual note, none of us have the freedom to choose whether we live or die. So, what are we really choosing? Perhaps what we truly seek is not freedom from every limitation, but the freedom to decide how we live within those limitations.
In reality, all our lives we chase small ambitions with expectations of a future that is bright and obstacle-free, only to come to terms with reality after fulfilling those dreams. The harsh truth remains harsh, and we must realize that freedom is not something that needs to be chased. When we treat freedom as a finish line, it will always stay one step ahead, turning into a dream that forever escapes our grasp.
Freedom is something that must be felt, freedom in our thought processes, freedom in clearly setting out our future plans, and freedom to take risks without compromising our value systems. This inner freedom comes from aligning our choices with our deepest convictions, even when external circumstances are not entirely in our control.
Each of us must find our own sense of freedom, one that enables us to truly be free, to soar like an eagle despite the endless mountains in our path. We must choose whether we want to be the bird in the cage longing to fly, or the bird in the sky searching for a purpose. The dream of absolute, obstacle-free freedom may always remain unfulfilled, but the freedom to choose our response, our values, and our direction is already in our hands.
In the end, it is up to us, not to remove every chain in the world, but to decide which chains we refuse to wear, and which skies we still dare to claim as our own.
“Freedom is not the absence of limits we fear,
But the wisdom to choose within them.
Every wing bears weight, every flight a cost,
Yet still, the eagle dares the heights.
True freedom begins the moment we accept
That the sky owes us nothing”.
The Journal Club 
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