Seventy-six years ago, on the historic night of August 14, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru stood before the Parliament and delivered the iconic "Tryst with Destiny" speech that has since become a symbol of that momentous occasion. Addressing both the nation and the world to commemorate India's independence, he said: “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.”
Over the past 76 years, India has traversed a significant journey filled with remarkable accomplishments as well as challenges. However, narrating the story of a nation is no small feat. How does one encapsulate the myriad narratives of a billion lives that have collectively moulded our nation into what it is today?
As Asian Voice wishes all its British Indian readers a very Happy Independence Day, we take you through curated stories spanning the legacy of partition, fading art forms, the country’s economic growth, Indian indenture and the (s)heroes of the freedom struggle. These stories have been curated in collaboration with experts like writer and journalist, Kavita Puri, Shailesh Pathak, Secretary General, FICCI, Historian Dr Sanjukta Ghosh along with Prof David Dabydeen and Dr Nalini Mohabir, both specialising in Indentureship. We take you through the journey of independence and Indian history with a new lens.
