When August 15 comes around as it, strangely enough, does every year, some images inevitably flash past : sepia toned but indelible. Images of a flag being unfurled and scratchy footage that has Jawaharlal Nehru speaking words burnt into the consciousness of Indians who weren't even born in 1947. Somehow though, we don't get past the first two lines of that speech : 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.

He did say more though, and the sentences that remain with me are The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

It will take a while before we can declare freedom, if we were to measure ourselves against this set of objectives. I believe that our generation has an opportunity not granted the ones before to progress significantly toward achieving these goals. The past decade has seen us making economic and infrastructural strides that possibly exceed those of the previous fifty years. Every one of us can leverage that for meaningful social change that we can individually make. This Independence Day for me will not only be a commemoration of what was achieved sixty years ago, but also a day of anticipation for what will be sixty years hence. Happy Independence Day!

Tags : India