Tomorrow, on August 15, India celebrates the 59th anniversary of her independence from the British Empire. For some, it's a time to pull out the flags and patriotic clothing and yell slogans from the rooftops. For others, it's a chance to make a quick buck out of flags and patriotic clothing. Everyone's happy - we commemorate the setting of the Sun on the British Raj and, in a quintessentially Indian way, make a smart profit.
Somewhere in the back of our thoughts is a speech - a speech with which we have been acquainted since our youngest days, one whose opening utterances remain etched in our memories. But do we truly understand its message? The speech - Tryst With Destiny - was a seminal moment in Indian history, welcoming the dawn of a new era in the subcontinent. We were finally free of the shackles of foreign rule, and from that day on, we made our own history.
Nehru's speech warned us that the struggle had only just begun. Freedom from the British was not an end in itself, but an opportunity for the common Indian to determine his own fate. Facing us were the obstacles of poverty, unemployment, malnourishment and class differences - problems that exist (to varying degrees) till today. One could argue that Nehru's vision never reached fruition.
That is not to detract from India's achievements in the last 59 years, or to deny the challenges we faced from external factors such as hostile neighbours and cross-border terrorism. We are now a major player in IT, pharmaceuticals and space technology. Our economy - especially our services industry - is growing at a breathtaking rate, and has been doing so ever since the economic reforms introduced in 1991. In fact, the rapid growth and improvement during the 90s should serve as a reminder of the need for more reforms, both socially and economically. Red-tapeism still exists all over India, and is a huge impediment to businesses and land owners. It is something of a paradox that while the economy is booming, the number of jobs available hasn't increased proportionally. Social restrictions exist when there should be none. The news media has regressed from being a worthy source of information to cheap tabloid material - the Times of India is sadly one of the biggest victims to this trend, concentrating on selling advertising space more than reporting on substantial issues. Most politicians today seem more interested in serving their own personal interests than "dedicating themselves in all humility to the service of India" (to paraphrase Nehru).
Nehru's speech should have symbolised the beginning of a struggle - not against a foreign entity that could be readily demonised and resisted, but against our own thoughts and vices. Instead, it signalled an era of complacency. Nehru and his contemporaries made numerous mistakes (most notably the notion of Fabian Socialism), but they were mistakes that many of his time made. Our greatest error was in not recognising these mistakes sooner.
August 15 marks a day when we remember the sacrifices of the freedom fighters, men and women who defied an Empire to claim what was rightfully theirs. It should perhaps also be a day that we imbibe some of that revolutionary spirit to right the wrongs of the past and start over. The 'Tryst With Destiny' was only the beginning, and we owe it to them to finish the job they started. Happy Independence Day. Jai Hind.
Somewhere in the back of our thoughts is a speech - a speech with which we have been acquainted since our youngest days, one whose opening utterances remain etched in our memories. But do we truly understand its message? The speech - Tryst With Destiny - was a seminal moment in Indian history, welcoming the dawn of a new era in the subcontinent. We were finally free of the shackles of foreign rule, and from that day on, we made our own history.
Nehru's speech warned us that the struggle had only just begun. Freedom from the British was not an end in itself, but an opportunity for the common Indian to determine his own fate. Facing us were the obstacles of poverty, unemployment, malnourishment and class differences - problems that exist (to varying degrees) till today. One could argue that Nehru's vision never reached fruition.
...the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now. That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we might fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the One we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us. But as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over. And so we have to labour and to work and work hard to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for anyone of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments. To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we appeal to join us' with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell. [Link]"The ending of poverty and disease and inequality of opportunity". As I look around me, I cannot see even one of those promises being fulfilled after fifty-nine years of independence. We may have eradicated smallpox, but we now have the largest population of HIV-positive individuals in the world. We have an alarmingly high number of people living below the poverty line (as high as 30%), and inequality of opportunity is a fact of life even today, as the recent debate regarding reservations in tertiary institutions shows. We can blame the British all we want for sucking India dry economically, but fifty-nine years should have been enough to reverse the ill-effects of colonialism. Singapore is a prime example of rapid growth and transition from a third-world city-state to one of the most affluent countries in the world.
That is not to detract from India's achievements in the last 59 years, or to deny the challenges we faced from external factors such as hostile neighbours and cross-border terrorism. We are now a major player in IT, pharmaceuticals and space technology. Our economy - especially our services industry - is growing at a breathtaking rate, and has been doing so ever since the economic reforms introduced in 1991. In fact, the rapid growth and improvement during the 90s should serve as a reminder of the need for more reforms, both socially and economically. Red-tapeism still exists all over India, and is a huge impediment to businesses and land owners. It is something of a paradox that while the economy is booming, the number of jobs available hasn't increased proportionally. Social restrictions exist when there should be none. The news media has regressed from being a worthy source of information to cheap tabloid material - the Times of India is sadly one of the biggest victims to this trend, concentrating on selling advertising space more than reporting on substantial issues. Most politicians today seem more interested in serving their own personal interests than "dedicating themselves in all humility to the service of India" (to paraphrase Nehru).
Nehru's speech should have symbolised the beginning of a struggle - not against a foreign entity that could be readily demonised and resisted, but against our own thoughts and vices. Instead, it signalled an era of complacency. Nehru and his contemporaries made numerous mistakes (most notably the notion of Fabian Socialism), but they were mistakes that many of his time made. Our greatest error was in not recognising these mistakes sooner.
August 15 marks a day when we remember the sacrifices of the freedom fighters, men and women who defied an Empire to claim what was rightfully theirs. It should perhaps also be a day that we imbibe some of that revolutionary spirit to right the wrongs of the past and start over. The 'Tryst With Destiny' was only the beginning, and we owe it to them to finish the job they started. Happy Independence Day. Jai Hind.
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