I have often been accused of childish thinking - usually with justification so when I had to write a 3 minute speech on "What Freedom Means to Me" for my 7 year old I thought it would be a piece of cake. Far from it - truth be told. It's one thing to be puerile but quite another to put together a coherent argument in terms that 7 year olds would appreciate. After laboring over it for an eternity here is what I came up with. What do you think - have I been able to put my childish thinking to use for good this time ?
What does Freedom Mean to Me ?
Hello I am Aniruddh Nambudiri from Class III G
A free country is a country that is not ruled over by any
other country. We have been a free country for over 60 years now and in this
time have become known as one of the world’s largest democracies – this means
that we can make our own laws and rules. I wanted to talk about what this
freedom means for me and you – the children of India.
Sometimes I think that being free means being able to do
whatever I want whenever I want – I am sure many of you also think the same
thing. Even though this may be what we want we know this is not so –there are
rules to follow and so many things we should do because they are the right
thing to do at that time. This tells us that freedom is not only about our
rights but also about responsibilities. That’s a big word that means that we
should also do what is right not only want people to do things for us. For example it is our right to play with our
friends when we are at home but it is our responsibility to finish our homework
also.
Freedom means that we can make our own choices but my father
tells me that it is our responsibility to do so wisely – this means that when
we have to choose something we should try to learn everything about what we are
choosing to do first. For example when I asked my father for an iPad he told me
that I was asking for it only because my cousin Akshay had got one and not
because I could think of anything useful to do with it. This may be true –
although it is possible he just did not want to buy me an iPad at that time.
One more important
lesson about freedom is that our freedom cannot be at the cost of someone
else’s freedom – this means that while we are free to do what we want we cannot
do this without thinking of the people around us. Think how you would feel if
you were playing football and some other team comes and starts playing on the
same field at the same time ?
One of my favourite movies is Spider-Man – in that Peter
Parker’s uncle tells him “With great power comes great responsibility”. I think
freedom is that great power – we should use it wisely and responsibly –
after-all we are the citizens of tomorrow.
Thank you.
