Every year on August 15, the nation pauses. The tricolour rises against the morning sky. School grounds echo with patriotic songs. Children stand a little straighter as stories of courage, sacrifice and freedom are retold. For a few hours, we celebrate the remarkable idea that every individual deserves dignity, opportunity and the freedom to shape their own future.

Yet, after spending more than three decades working with children, parents and educators across India, I have often found myself wondering whether the conversation ends too soon. We speak passionately about the freedom won by a nation. Far less often do we ask whether our children experience that same sense of freedom within the walls of their own homes.