On August 15, 1947, seventy-one
years ago today, India became independent.
I arrived in India for the first time in August 1962, as it celebrated its
15th Independence Day. That was
a long time ago, when freedom was relatively new and most Indians could still remember
when they were under the colonial yoke of England.
I’ve always been moved by
Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Tryst with Destiny” speech on that first Independence
Day. He said:
Long
years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall
redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At
the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to
life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we
step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a
nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn
moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people
and to the still larger cause of humanity.
These days, when political
rhetoric comes more from the gutter than from inspiring and uplifting dreams,
it would serve us well to remember that it doesn’t have to be this way.
Jai Hind!
