What it Means to be an Indian

For some, the thoughts come easily, dripping with patriotism or pure venom. For others, it needs hours of conversation for the words and feelings, usually buried deep or hardly ever considered, to surface. INDIA TODAY presents frank, unguarded thoughts of some of the best known -- and some totally unknown -- people across the nation who make up the fabric of India. After 50 years of Independence, this is the voice of India, a reflection of who we are. It shows how far we have come. And how far we need to go.

Interview by KALLI PURIE
Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

THANGARAJAN, Fisherman, 22, earns about Rs 100 a day. About to get married.
I do not know India's boundaries, from where to where the country exists. I just go to catch fish every day. Sometimes three miles this way, and sometimes three miles the other way.
Independence? I don't know about it. If it is a holiday, I will drink a little more.

Rashid's identity has been masked for reasons of his security

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