Every independence day is one step away from the shackles of the colonial past, and one confident steps towards unity and progress.

Mentza’s mission is to be the place where people from all walks of our society come together to share their stores, to be heard, to learn and grow, one 20-min conversation at a time.

This independence day, we had such an eclectic range of voices sharing their stories on Mentza, that every moment over the last few days have been one to savour.

Sample some of these conversations:

90-Minute Flagship Event

In this conversation we had the mightiest voices from the three arms of Indian Defence Forces and chief of community radio association talk about the transformation of defence forces as the country matures and the role of technology in giving voice to people across the country. The last segment of the session was live musical concert with artists from across the country.

Guests: Air Marshal K S Gill, Lt. General M S Buttar, Vice Adm Pradeep Chauhan, Col Ashutosh Kale, Dr. B S Panwar – President Community Radio Association, Kaustubh Dhavse – OSD Dy. CM Maharashtra, Shaila Maheshwari – Classical Vocalist, Bundu Khan – Rajasthani Folk Master, Deepak Bhatnagar Singer

Independence Day with The Book Bakers by Priyanka Parulekar

Priyanka Parulekar spoke with AK Gandhi and Supriya Parulekar on their historical writings on Freedom, India and Leaders of India. A.K. Gandhi is a historian, author and translator. His important books are with National Book Trust (1857 Kranti Va Krantidhara), Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Akademi, Bhopal (Pratap, Shivaji aur Chhatrasal), Kitabghar Pub. (Bharatiya Thal Sena : Badhate Kadam), Prabhat Pub. (APJ Abdul Kalam: A Saintly Scientist), and others. As a translator, he has several published books, including Gond, Komagata Maru (both Eng-Hindi, National Book Trust), The Battle of Rezang La (Penguin – NBT) and Narendra Modi’s Jyotipunj (Hindi-Eng, Prabhat Pub.). An ex-IAF language specialist, presently A.K. Gandhi is also the Mentor under the Prime Minister Yuva Mentorship Scheme (for young authors), as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav programme. Supriya Parulekar is an author and script writer. She has authored seven books which fall under different genres. Hide & Seek, her eighth, talks about virtual infidelity in marriage, love, heartbreak and loss. Her upcoming (and ninth!) novel is a romance released on Amazon kindle. She is also an avid reader and student of Japanese.

जय जय मैथिल जय मिथिला – मिथिलावासीक हर्षोल्लासक 75म वर्षगिरह – प्रज्ञा मिश्र

आजादीक 75म वर्षगिरह पर मनाओल जा रहल देशव्यापी अमृत महोत्सव केर उपलक्ष्य मे रेडियो प्लेबैक इंडिया, राग लिगेसी एवम शतदल रेडियोक सदस्य प्रस्तुत क रहल छ्थ कार्यक्रम “जय जय मैथिल, जय मिथिला – मिथिलावासीक हर्षोल्लासक 75म वर्षगिरह” एहि अवसर पर अपने लोकनि सादर आमंत्रित छी।

भोजपुरी भाषा का विकास आजादी के बाद : अमृत महोत्सव – Sushma Tiwari

का बदलल? कवन प्रयास भइल? भोजपुरी मात्र एगो भाषे ना, बलुक एगो सर्वगुण-संपन्न, सर्वधर्म सम्भाव के संस्कृति के नाम ह। विकास आ बाधा दूनो एक सिक्का के दूगो पहलू का रूप में मानल जाला। बात करल जाइ दूनू पहलु पर।

ਅਜ਼ਾਦ ਹਿੰਦੁਸਤਾਨ ਦੀਆਂ ਜੜਾਂ (Roots of Independent India) by Manuj Mehta

Horrors of Partition & Formation of Pakistan by Uday Kiran and Bajrang

For all the freedom fighters from 1857 and beyond who gave up lives for the country to be free – lakhs more than them were forced to give up theirs – they were the bloodiest collateral damage – perhaps the most violent progrom in history. It lead to the formation of Pakistan on Aug 14th and India a day later- the consequences of which generations have continued to bear.

🇮🇳Patriotic songs – 75th Independence day🎶🎶 by Saji Prahladan

Numerous songs created before and after Indian independence in various languages which motivated and transferred the spirit of independence and patriotism. In this 20-minute conversation some Patriotic songs were performed by ‘The wonder kids’; Bhavni Rajesh Menon, Tia Susan Joseph, Dakshina Soorya prakash and Angeru Mahesh.

Please Pause and Applause 👏 Young at 75🇮🇳🗞 by Dr. Shambhavi Rajagopal

A series of conversations to celebrate Freedom , what it means to each one of us as an individual, a family ,a society, a community and as a citizen. Meet 4 guests who talk about journalism 🗞😊 Vishal Arora,a roving journalist who has covered life and politics in South & Southeast Asia for more than 20 years. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Bangkok Post, and many more media outlets.

Anupama Chandrasekaran Editor, Podcasts, At Newsreel, who produces audio documentaries that bring diverse languages, voices and sounds of our amazing country together.

Ganesh Rajaraman, Senior Producer with over 15 years of experience in media, has produced, directed and scripted a 10-part series for the Discovery network’s Travel and Living show called the ‘Great Indian World Trip.

Surabhi Singh Producer, Head of Academy has a diploma in journalism from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi

आज़ाद हिंदुस्तान के शायर by Manuj Mehta

Over the last 7 days, 100s of wonderful conversations related to #AzadiKaAmritMahautsav were created by members. To access all of these download mentza.

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