An entire nation tuned into their radios eager to listen to the Independence Day broadcast on the midnight of August 14-15, 1947. One can only imagine the streets, buzzing with excitement as the voice of the first Prime Minister of Independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru’s blared through the static. “Long years ago,” Nehru began, “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.”
“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. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India, and her people, and to the still larger cause of humanity.”
The famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech, delivered by Nehru before the Constituent Assembly, is counted as one of the greatest public addresses of the 20th Century and was written by Nehru himself.
A gifted writer Nehru wrote many of his speeches as and when time and occasion permitted. In fact, he would reportedly spend hours working on his speeches, much to the chagrin of his secretaries. Another one of his famous speeches – the “Light has gone out” broadcast to the nation on radio when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated – was extempore.
Did you know?
While the whole country rejoiced the freedom, Gandhiji did not join in. Although he had fought hard to win the freedom, he was on a hunger strike in Calcutta (now Kolkata), far from the celebrations in Delhi.
Picture Credit : Google
