BALANCING FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY IN STUDENT LIFE

BLOG 1: BALANCING FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY IN STUDENT LIFE

Freedom, a word with which I was accustomed to years ago which was lost in responsibility and I could redefine it during the journey of my PhD. After passing out from school ‘Freedom’ slowly started to fade and by post-graduation it had vanished. The constant responsibility towards impressing the family, becoming a role model to my younger sibling and proving to the society that I am someone had created a perfect imbalance of responsibility and freedom. We say we use machines but little do we realise that we’ve slowly become one of them. Just as I was about to burn out under the responsibility of maintaining the perfect student image, I realised and reflected upon myself. A very basic reflection. Who have I given the key to my freedom? No one is to be blamed here. Because they haven’t taken the key from me, I have given it to them. Life hasn’t been the same since I have reclaimed the key. The perfect balance of freedom and responsibility lies within ourselves. We cannot use freedom to an extent where we start living recklessly or even harm others and neither should we burden ourselves with responsibility which can harm us.

Pragati Ray

Research Scholar

Department of English, FEU

JSPM University Pune

BLOG 2: TRUE FREEDOM IS NOT ABOUT ESCAPING FROM RESPONSIBILTY

As a human we have many phases in our life. We own it and we create it by our own karma. The most important phase to be considered is student life phase. Student life is often called the freest phase of our lives. We learn; we learn to talk, we learn to prove our own identity, we learn to choose people around us. We have every type of freedom which we need at that point of life. What exactly does this “Freedom” word mean? Is it that we are not answerable to anyone? Or is it not to have any type of boundary?
I believe, “freedom is not just the right to choose but it is the wisdom to choose well. It is not the absence of boundaries but the ability to turn those boundaries into bridges.” Now that’s our responsibility, how we choose it.
True freedom is not about escaping from responsibility; it is about accepting and finding meaning within it.
A student life is like a kite. Freedom is that open sky each one of us dreams of; it gives the kite space to rise, to go with the wind, to dream without limits.
Responsibility is the string in the hands of the flyer; it may seem like a restriction but in reality, that’s what keeps the kite steady, prevents it from crashing, and gives direction to fly higher. Without the string the kite drifts aimlessly and eventually falls—it may fall on anything which can damage the kite. Without the sky, the kite never flies. Only when freedom and responsibility work together, the flight become beautiful.

Student life is exactly like a kite: every student is the flyer and every mind is the string. Freedom is not about hiding things or telling lies—that can’t even be considered freedom. Freedom always comes with responsibilities, as two inseparable sides of the same coin. Wherever freedom exists, responsibility follows
unconditionally; one cannot truly exist without the other. Thus, balancing both of them to create a better future is our duty.

Shrawani Morey

JSPM University Pune