His frail body fell on the ground with a big thud. The gathering of hundreds of his followers for the evening prayer meeting, turned into a mourning. There was commotion and ruckus everywhere as people ran out of fear. And clouds of dust billowed up in the air which was already filled with the hapless screams of the people.

It was the evening of 30th January, 1948, when the most peace-loving soul, Mahatma Gandhi, was shot point blank in the chest and assassinated by a man called Nathuram Godse. Every year, this day is observed as the Martyr’s Day and India pays homage to all the freedom fighters who laid down their lives for their motherland.

Global Indian International School (GIIS) Ahmedabad marked the Martyr’s Day with an assembly that proclaimed Gandhiji’s three principals of ‘See no evil; hear no evil; and speak no evil’, emphatically. What could have been a better way to pay homage to the brave hearts that sacrificed their lives for our Independence? They laid their lives envisioning of an independent India; free from poverty, vices, inequality, hatred and violence. An assembly that shakes us from within and reminds us that the sacrifices should not go in vain and we as the future of India should unite to make our motherland, what these martyr’s must have envisioned.

The students also observed a 2-minute silence at 11:00am in remembrance of martyrs like Bhagat Singh, Rani Laxmibai, Subhash Chandra Bose and hundreds of freedom fighters whose names never made it to the headlines and text books.

However, is remembering their sacrifice, struggle, pain, and fight on the Martyr’s Day enough? Does just 2-minutes of silence suffice for their martyrdom? No, it doesn’t. But, it can awaken the goodness within us and remind us that we our freedom is invaluable.