Happy Independence Day... the tryst to be independent continues

Independence day....
Today's the day when 62 years ago we achieved independence from the British Rule.
I'm wondering something fancy and patriotic to write about today. But somehow it wouldn't do justice to this day.
Cynic that I am, I sit here and wonder exactly how significant is this day to us Indians. We're a weird race. We blow out of proportion silly little things like a five year old falling in the ditch and completely ignore something as significant as our Independence Day. It has the least number of SMS's passed around, unenthusiastic greetings and celebrations, and the regular monotony of a holiday. I'm sure there ARE quite a number of people out there doing a lot more than that, but since it doesn't include me, I feel pretty useless and left out.
Of course, on a more dismal note, I'll also point out all the things that we're still not free from. We still labor under the oppression of diseases, pollution, malnutrition, poverty, terrorism, over exposure and dependence on technology, the oppression of MONEY, of peer pressure, of depleting and degrading natural resources, morals, cultural values.... blah blah blah. The question is - how much of it bothers us; and even more importantly, are we willing to do something about it?
Our forefathers, so to say liberated us from foreign rule so that we could make our own choices, and the only ones really celebrating this day, or at least making a pretense of doing so our not-so-dear politicians who probably are the only ones fully exercising this right of CHOICE.
An average Indian is still stuck in making the same stereotypical choices, (I wonder if they can be termed choices at all, since they're so spoon-fed) making ends meet. Even those who do better than that classify living life as a few annual outings taken with the family where they visit stereotypical places, spending on stereotypical luxuries, each vying to outdo his neighbor or relative or brother or friend or enemy.
Our scriptures themselves say that those who do not venture out to learn new cultures, new languages and new ways are no better than animals. So what do we do? How do we free ourselves and the rest of the Indians from their mundane stereotypical lives? The ones that WANT to Free of course. How do we emphasize on this day that we are free, we are free, independent, that we define ourselves, that our identities are neither chained in our culture, nor in the western culture, that we are who we are and we are proud of who we are, that we make choices, independent choices, not those dictated by family or society or situations?
With freedom of course, come responsibilities. And it is shouldering these responsibilities that emphasizes that we are a free race. Each of us has different responsibs and some common... ahem... noble ones that we all need to shoulder. Yes, I know it's easy to be all philosophical but it's not all that difficult to take a few small steps. Like switching off the lights in your house when you don't need them, or not taking unnecessary long drives and saving oil, or trying to give your parents little things, moments that they sacrificed to raise you, or not littering the roads, or not losing patience when someone bangs into you by mistake on the road, or making women feel more secure EVERYWHERE.... There are many things we can do, and every time we do any one of them, it's like celebrating our independence, whatever day it might be.
Theres no need to be all puffed up and make impractical resolutions with fire in your eyes and patriotic fervor in your heart or anything fancy like that, just a determination to do better, be better every moment of life. That would probably be more than being independent citizens of our wonderful country, it'd be like being independent of all our weaknesses. Sound like a good thing to be, no?