Freedom Mix

I sit at Physician staff meetings often and constantly find myself immersed amongst new and yet familiar faces of my country each week. And without fail, each one of them have approached me on numerous occasions wanting to know who this young Indian girl is and why have we not seen her before. Whether it's food for gossip, community chitter chatter or simply keeping an eye out for prospective future proposals, something or the other always drives them to hunt me down in the crowd. Interestingly enough, I have noticed that all Indian adults have that same look of 'judgement' in their eye when they talk to you for the first time. Almost like they have a checklist spun out in their minds and are simply marking it with every question asked. You work here - yes! check. What is your name - Namita. check. What does your father do - CPA. check. What is your family name - Azad. !!#@&*^@#!!..and we have a breakdown. And in their minds: Azad? A muslim last name? Hmmm...and then the eyebrow rises and like survey style.. "If answer is Azad, skip to question 254"..they ask "So you are muslim?" Having perfected this with practice, I smile and say No, I am Hindu and from India. A sigh, and we are back on track.

So today, after many, many instances like that stated above, I will share with you the story of Azad.

Sitting under the skies of a heated saturday night of Summer,2007, with my grandparents who were visiting us from India, my dadaji took us back to the yester years of 1947 to explain the sweet tale of our uncanny last name. By degree he is a certified accountant, but by passion he is a poet who got caught in the age of freedom fighting. And just like a true poet, even the walls of the prison cell, where he was held captive for 18 months, were glorified by his words. It was during this time that he wrote a piece which till date, he holds very close to his heart. Upon gaining freedom from jail and India from the British, he very proudly went to his mentor and showed it to him. With the scent of freedom in the air, his mentor read through it and looked up and told him, "Madan, tum ajj Azad hogaye ho"...


"Eh abra, zara tham ke aa,
Woh aayen tau jaam ke aa,
Magar ase na baras ki woh aa na saken
Jab woh aayen, tau ase baras ke woh ja na saken"
- Madan Lal Azad