I am participating in an elocution contest.
Hello everyone, i am participating in an elocution contest in my city. The topic that i chose is- Fulfilling your dreams- be independent. I need constructive criticism on how can i improve more. Your help would be really appreciated.
Picture this. Gokuldham Society. Ganesh Chaturthi is around the corner. And Tapu Sena, for anyone who grew up watching Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, you know exactly who I mean, Tapu Sena has a plan. They will handle every single decoration themselves. No adults. No interference. No compromise.
Their energy? Unmatchable.
Their confidence? Through the roof.
Their budget? Zero. Absolute zero.
They had the vision of a CEO and the funds of a broke student after the 28th of the month. And yet they never gave up on doing it themselves.
That little fictional gang taught us something many real adults forget. Independence is not about doing everything alone. It is about owning your journey. It is about being the author of your own story, not just a side character in someone else's.
Independence isn't a privilege you receive when you grow up. It's a decision you make right now.
Today, as young adults standing at what I'd call the buffet of life, careers, choices, opinions, relationships, the question is: are we filling our own plate? Or are we waiting for someone to hand us theirs?
Let's begin with the independence that costs nothing, and yet is the rarest. Intellectual independence.
How many of us have a genuine, thought-through opinion that we've actually voiced in public “ without first checking whether the people around us would approve? We've become so used to intellectual hitchhiking. Borrowing other people's ideas. Nodding along. Forwarding WhatsApp messages as facts.
Sometimes I wonder, are we thinking, or are we just buffering?
Independence begins in the mind. It begins the day you dare to read, to question, to disagree, and then form your own view. Not because it's rebellious. But because it's human. A borrowed opinion will never carry your conviction. And a speech without conviction, as you know, is just noise.
Now let's talk about the part Tapu Sena always struggled with, money.
We are a generation that knows how to swipe a card but not always how to read a bank statement. We can discuss cryptocurrency at dinner, but skip past the column that says monthly savings. And when life eventually sends us a bill, not just in rupees, but in responsibility, we suddenly realise that the moment we said "I'll figure it out later," we were gifting our future selves a beautifully wrapped problem.
Dreams need fuel. And fuel, unfortunately, is not free, not even in Gokuldham. Financial independence is not about being rich. It is about being informed. About knowing where your money goes before it decides to leave without telling you.
But there is a third kind of independence that social media has made harder to hold onto, emotional independence. The ability to process your own feelings without outsourcing your peace to other people's validation.
We post a photo and then spend the next three hours refreshing to count likes. We have essentially turned our self-worth into a crowdfunded project.
True independence means your confidence doesn't rise and fall with your notifications. It means you can sit with yourself, no screen, no noise, and still feel okay. That is not a personality trait. That is a skill. And like any skill, it is built through practice, through patience, and through the quiet choice to stop seeking approval for your own existence.
So here is what I want to leave you with.
When was the last time you made a choice that was entirely, uncomplicatedly yours? Not influenced by what your friends would think, or what would look good, or what was expected of you, but purely, simply yours?
Tapu Sena didn't wait to grow up to feel independent. They claimed it. In a society full of well-meaning adults ready to take over, they held their ground and said, this is ours.
Our dreams deserve the same fierceness. Not the kind that pushes help away, but the kind that says: I will learn, I will earn, I will choose, and I will stand by my choices.
So go ahead, decorate your own Ganpati. Maybe ask for a little funding. But never, ever let anyone else choose the theme.