India won independence 65 years ago
It was one of the biggest moments of the 20th century. One of the world’s oldest civilizations gained her independence from 250 years of British rule and, with 350 million people, became the largest democracy in the world. The partition that created Pakistan resulted in the largest mass movement in history, as millions of Hindus poured into India and millions of Muslims poured into Pakistan. The speech Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of independent India, made at the Red Fort in Delhi on August 14, 1947 is one of the most stirring I have ever heard. It gets me very time. Here it is in a grainy but audible recording of the actual event.
“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,” Nehru 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.”
Mariellen Ward is a freelance travel writer whose personal style is informed by a background in journalism, a dedication to yoga and a passion for sharing the beauty of India’s culture and wisdom with the world. She has traveled for about a year altogether in India and publishes an India travel blog, Breathedreamgo.com. Mariellen also writes for magazines and newspapers.
