Phone Recharge Ki Dukaan hosted an open studio on 15th August, the Indian Independence Day, to talk about what ‘azaadi’ means to each one of us and what we still need ‘azaadi’ from. Through the day, it began to dawn on the participants how united the Indians were with the diverse African communities at Khirkee in their shared histories of colonial rule and freedom from oppression – with the Congolese gaining independence from Belgians; Ivory Coast from the French; Ghanians, Nigerians and Somalians from the British all around 1960. An Afghani resident then pointed how his country has not known what freedom even means for so long now.

While someone spoke about ‘azaadi’ from communal violence in their country, someone from terrorism in theirs and someone from colonial influence still dominating theirs, at the end of the super humid day, we found ourselves all united in our pursuit for a better ‘jahan’.