Dear Readers,

Each Republic Day, we salute the freedom we inherited. We stand for the anthem, share patriotic messages, feel a familiar swell of pride. Yet the deeper truth is this: freedom is not preserved by remembrance alone. It survives through practice. It grows only when citizens actively nurture it.

For our Parsi community, this idea is especially meaningful. Our history is a testament to civic participation. From Dadabhai Naoroji’s moral courage to the countless Parsis who shaped India’s industries, education, armed forces and public life, we have always believed in contributing more than our numbers suggest. That spirit must now be consciously renewed.

Freedom today is expressed in small, daily choices. It is in the young adult who votes thoughtfully instead of scrolling past civic issues. It is in the senior who volunteers at an Agiary, a school, or a community kitchen. It is in parents who teach children empathy and responsibility, not just achievement. It is in supporting honest dialogue, respecting differing views and standing up when something feels unjust.

We often worry about dwindling numbers and fading traditions. But communities do not endure merely through rituals. They endure through relevance. When our youth engage with social causes, when professionals mentor younger Parsis, when institutions collaborate rather than compete, we strengthen our identity and our future.

Republic Day is more than a celebration of what the Constitution grants us, it’s is a reminder of what it asks of us: participation, integrity and unity. If each of us chooses, in our own small way, to serve, to contribute, to care, then freedom remains alive in our homes, our baugs, our institutions and our hearts. And that is truly the legacy worthy of passing on, as responsible Indians and Zoroastrians.

Happy Republic Day! Have a good weekend!

– Anahita