Sixty four glorious years of Independence. I must admit that freedom most definitely is a wonderful feeling.
All of us are blessed to be born in a free country and to enjoy the rights that we do.
Years ago numerous men and women gave up their lives to free our nation from the British rule and to this day we are reaping the benefits of their struggle and martyrdom. However, it is a fact that today we take our freedom and rights for granted. The Indian Constitution has empowered all Indians, but at the same time, some end up abusing the power too.
Just the other day I was the victim of an individual who took advantage of his right to freedom of speech to publicly embarrass and ridicule me. Moreover, all this happened on national television! The man in question, who from now I shall refer to as Mr Moon, clearly overstepped the limits of what to say when and where, and to my agravation, had no regard or respect for the event at hand or the people concerned.
It was further uncomfortable as I had to stand right next to Mr Moon hearing him diss me in front of an audience. I had to somehow smile through the excruciating process and then continue on as if nothing happened.
Let us not forget to give due respects to the man who chose to exercise this vital fundamental right to rip me and my work apart onstage, for being one of the most talented and highly respected actors of our film industry.
I guess I am just lucky that I am not scarred for life because of my thick rhino skin. I can just about imagine a teary eyed me running out of the stage weeping at being insulted by such a stalwart or even worse me getting back at him. An eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth.
But somehow I just couldn’t do that either. I had a job at hand and had to complete it. It wasn’t my day or Mr Moon’s. It was the grand finale of one of the finest musical reality shows for kids and they were the stars. The focus had to be on them, not some slanderous statements made by a man pining for attention.
I enjoy the same freedom and rights every other Indian citizen enjoys and till the day I die, I will exercise them. Nobody has the right to tell me otherwise, and even if they do, like in this particular instance, I am sorry to say that the only thing achieved was some cheap publicity and the loss of respect for a so called brilliant actor.
The writer is a popular TV anchor
