Happy Independence day to my fellow Indians !
And now to the main objective of this post.
Independence / Freedom has always been an integral part of human need and desire at times. We all have been in situations where we felt really free or the contrary. Many people make us jealous with their freedom ( and of course the cause differs for us all ) . so today I want to know from you all , one book / character from any book whose freedom you wish for ? any character who inspired the sense of freedom or to be independent in you ..
And .. the answer i love the most would win a gift coupon of flipkart from my side.
( This is Nimue writing the post so you know I would'nt be giving this coupon to either me or FL coz i hate his reading speed :P unless he comes up with some good replies to this post )
So , pour in the thouhgts .. Lets talk "free"ly !
==
And the winner is Purva !
( thank you for telling about the book version of one of my favorite movie. and I totally agree , Maya is freedom personalized ! )
And now to the main objective of this post.
Independence / Freedom has always been an integral part of human need and desire at times. We all have been in situations where we felt really free or the contrary. Many people make us jealous with their freedom ( and of course the cause differs for us all ) . so today I want to know from you all , one book / character from any book whose freedom you wish for ? any character who inspired the sense of freedom or to be independent in you ..
And .. the answer i love the most would win a gift coupon of flipkart from my side.
( This is Nimue writing the post so you know I would'nt be giving this coupon to either me or FL coz i hate his reading speed :P unless he comes up with some good replies to this post )
So , pour in the thouhgts .. Lets talk "free"ly !
==
And the winner is Purva !
( thank you for telling about the book version of one of my favorite movie. and I totally agree , Maya is freedom personalized ! )
Wow...this is so cool, Nimue :D I loved the idea!!
ReplyDeleteThe character who represented the spirit of freedom to me is Celie from Alice Walker's "The Color Purple". Despite being repressed and subjugated by the men in her life, Celie's undying spirit remained independent, always refusing to be bound. She always stood up for those she loved and fought for the right and ultimately achieves independence through her voice. She truly defines freedom of the soul.
You talk of freedom and independence and there is only one character that I can think of : Howard Roark. The author - Ayn Rand, in her book 'The Fountainhead', created an unforgettable character.
ReplyDeleteIn a time when we are talking of physical liberty from all sorts of restrains, this guy lived free, mentally. Free of all the different labels that society offered to him, the stereotypes, the pressure to confirm to those set ideals. It takes nothing less than pure courage to live a life, burdened with the responsibility to use one's talent in accordance with one's principles, or not at all. Against all possible misfortunes in his professional and personal life, as a human, he remained free from every possible influence that went against his ideas. His integrity is admirable, so is his dedication to work.
He definitely inspired me to chase after what I want, irrespective of all the other sugar coated temptations that society provides.
Sadly, I never did finish this amazing book.
@enigmatic soul : my vote is with you ! I totally loved the spirit of that character !!
ReplyDelete@swarnali : If am not mistaken , you did the review of this book long back on ALOP ! i remember this book name. and the character sketch you give is much heart warming :)
@Nimue_Nah Aishwarya did it...I was planning to do a review of this one but she did it before I could :)
ReplyDeleteI am with Enigmatic Soul too!
ReplyDeleteRoark defines freedom of the mind and soul for me.
Also I find this idea really amazing and hence doing an elaborate post on my blog. hope that's ok :)
roark, roark, roark!!! :D
ReplyDeleteI would never forget Sayuri or Chiyo from Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha.
ReplyDeleteHer journey from that of a small village of Yorido as a young girl to a Geisha in Gion, Japan, shows her constant struggle to be free. She is not the conventional Geisha but a one with blue eyes and love in her heart, only for one. This is one book which shows that if you have hope and faith in yourself - freedom eventually comes to your soul! :) :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Nightflier : do link the post here ! we would love to read :)
ReplyDelete@Arpita : and if i say no answer to be repeated :P go on .. search a bit more and tell us why roark ? or if any one else filsl the same position too ?
Fictional character I do not know. May be Roarke as pointed out already by many. That is however I find is just a portrayal.
ReplyDeleteFor real, I would without a doubt say Mahatma Gandhi. He defines freedom for me. Also Tagore.
In fact I wrote a post in response to this one. Here it is http://navindutta.com/wordpress/2012/08/the-idea-of-freedom/
Do read and comment.
Best,
Navin
oh i thought u already picked enigmatic soul, so i was just saying i agree :P if u haven't come to a decision yet, i'll give u a different answer :D
ReplyDeleteHaila! No response to my character? *Pouts* Not done not done!! :P
ReplyDelete@MSM : I love that book and the movie. and more than freedom , Sayuri symbolized faith and choice for me. the conviction in dreams within the set boundaries.. that was her message to me :)
ReplyDelete@Arpita : not so soon. I m keeping this post till 25th Aug :) so yep, ur answer is awaited !
ReplyDelete@Nave : real men do inspire but often the stories are bit fictionalized :)
Still I would settle for ounce of reality than bouts of fiction :)
ReplyDeletebrilliant concept - of the competition :)
ReplyDeleteso what are your inputs Pulkit ? Which character would you pitch for ?
ReplyDeleteand I sudenly realize , I have not talked about the one fictional character I admire . That would be Auraya, the priestess from the book series "Age of the five" . rising from a small village to become one of the 5 priestess who are appointed by God , to part ways with them by choice and align with the very sect that has been outcasted by gods - all for being fair and just to the common people. thats freedom for me. Thats courage too to express and chose such freedom over the set of rules. And thats why I totally love her.
ReplyDeleteIndependence for me, is defined in the way Scarlett O Hara defined it in Gone With The Wind. In the society, yet out of it; as a woman, yet defying the rules of traditional womanhood.
ReplyDeleteShe defines freedom purely because of grey shades that she has. She's real. Even after all the years, you can relate to her, with all the human emotions of pain, hard work, greed, envy, love and hate, all intact and valid even today.
Roark is one character that instantly pops in one's head while reading the post...and that's very evident from comments by most readers. Since a lot has been written about him already I'll pick another character who really defines freedom for me: Maya from Gulzar's Ijjazat. I have seen the movie n number of times...read its book version recently so I am assuming it qualifies for this post. Maya lived life on her own terms. Free in true sense of the word, she did not let the shackles of society bind her. Carefree, she breathed every single moment according to her own will. She only allowed death to take away her right to do so. One of the most intriguing characters of the books I have read, Maya epitomizes freedom.
ReplyDeleteyes, roark IS the first character that comes to mind. the other would be don vito corleone. he is one person who refuses to live by others' rules and actually DOES something about it- he makes his own rules.
ReplyDeletehe is someone who makes sure that his decisions and his way of leading life are not determined by others, no matter how powerful they are. he gets the best of all possible worlds and dies a happy man, with the perfect words on his lips, "life is so beautiful." even death could not kill his spirit. my vote goes for him. :)
The one character whose freedom I think of/ who remind me of the fundamentalism of this very word if Balram from The White Tiger.
ReplyDeletea young man born and brought up in a remote village of Bihar, who rises up to become an entrepreneur in Bangalore. While unfolding his life of adventure and struggle, he is mainly concerned with painting a realistic picture of his village, his people, the feudal Zamindars of India and particularly all those
entrepreneurs who have arisen from dubious position to the great
heights of business magnets. While reading the adversities that he has faced in life, and the non-sympathy seeking mannerism, with which Balram narrates his story baffles me to wonder, how a man who takes strong decision, and make tough choices become independent from the mindset of how he would be judged by others. A man who forms a strong understanding of his past and people who around him, become independent of biasedness that arise from other people's opinions about them. It is Independence of dream - that free's a slave from his master. It is the understanding of the freedom he seeks, by becoming big and not by making others small, that amplifies his strength in a way, that he eventually succeeds in finding meaning n goals in his journey of life
alright..here's my nominee
ReplyDeleteAnd that's Cara from The Sword of Truth.
Why???
First of all she's supposed to be the villain...and she was made into a weapon. And when the change came with protecting Richard, she became unbelievable..
A perfect killing machine is now a girl who has freedom...not a weapon anymore, not a tool....but a woman who can live her life in a way so that she can fulfil all those she missed growing up. Reading Cara in those books made me realize what kindness and passion and freedom can change.
Cara, obviously had trouble, letting go of all those things that defined her. But slowly, inevitable, she became the girl that I never hoped...that i dreamt one day she would be.
To be independent, to be free is Cara...the MordSith
FL .. you wont believe , i said the same things about Cara to Arpita yday ! that reading this series was so much special coz of cara !!
ReplyDeleteyes she did! :D
ReplyDelete