On the eve of India's Independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru made that most memorable speech to the Constituent Assembly: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny.... At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." Till recently, to India and Indians, independence meant political freedom and little else.

PICTURE SPEAK

Our 2004 Independence Day special issue cover

These past 58 years India has survived four wars, some of the worst natural and man-made disasters, floods, droughts, terrorism, fundamentalism, language riots, divisions of states, the Emergency, stifling bureaucracy, coalition politics and some of the world's stupidest politicians. It has emerged through all this as a mature democracy acclaimed the world over. For this alone India and Indians deserve a standing ovation. But how long can we dine out on the theme of "We Survived"?

The world today is a different place and so is India. Political freedom today is taken for granted. Economic freedom is the new mantra. We have achieved some of it but have a long way to go. There could be no better moment to hasten the process. India may be an old country but we are a young nation with 70 per cent of our citizens under 35 years. With all its traditions and heritage, India is now a forward-looking nation. It is almost as if we have been freed again from the shackles of our past. As one of our columnists, industrialist Anand Mahindra, writes, India now has "self-belief and the willingness to take global risks". This issue is a recognition of this fact. For the past three years, Independence Day marked the time we celebrated India's triumphs and took note of its tribulations. This year we isolate the trends that make India an emerging force in politics, business and culture and have leaders from those fields giving us their expert views.

Undoubtedly, we still have many problems. India has always straddled the modern, medieval and the ancient at the same time. We are now internationally accepted as a nuclear-weapons power. But the fury of the monsoon in Mumbai has exposed the fragile infrastructure in our premier commercial city. In Delhi, the controversy over the Nanavati Commission Report highlighted how shamelessly democracy could be distorted; even after 21 years the murder of 3,000 Sikhs has gone unpunished.

Notwithstanding this and the fact that we are still cursed with an overbearing bureaucracy and some of the most hidebound politicians, I believe India and Indians will not only survive but thrive: because of our ingenuity, enterprise, patience and faith in democracy. I have no doubt that our time has come. It is for us to seize the moment.

Happy Independence Day!

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