The morning after. India wakes up to a new, independent dawn on August 15,1947. Huge crowds congregate at Delhis India Gate to witness the unfurling of the national flag. It proves an unforgettable experience, even for those who are barely into their teens,and throughout the subcontinent people burst out in spontaneous celebrations.
The Transfer of Power at a midnight ceremony on August 14-15 in the Council Hall. After being sworn in governor-general,Lord Mountbatten administers the oath of prime ministerial office to Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehrus stirring speech about Indias "tryst with destiny"thrills the new-born nation. Freedom comes,in Nehrus well-crafted words,"not wholly or in full measure but very substantially". Yet,as millions savour this fateful midnight, away from Delhi,Gandhi is a lonely, broken man.
Night of August 14:Women put tilak on Nehrus forehead before the midnight ceremony. Gestures of coronation filter into democracy. Nehru tours extensively, mingling with the jubilant citizens. Wherever he goes, cries of "Panditji!" rend the air, flowers are showered and firecrackers light up the sky.
Homai Vyarawalla,Indias first woman photographer, captured landmark moments of Indian historyIndependence, Partition, Mahatma Gandhis last days. Her pictures found their way into leading publications. She was also the sole Indian representative for famous publications such as Lifeand Time. She gave up her passion in 1970 to settle down in Baroda. "Post freedom,both politicians and photographers became distasteful," she laments.
Midnight, August 14-15. Nehru, S. Radhakrishnan and Dr Rajendra Prasad congratulate each other on attaining Swaraj after the ceremony. Freedom fighters of yesterday become politicians of toda y. The heady glow of sovereignty temporarily obscures the immense challenges ahead. Political independence does not mean any radical social change yet. Economic freedom does not mean 700,000 villages have been delivered from poverty.Yet the Indian Constitution will become a brave document of socialism,secularism and democracy.
August 16, 1947. Crowds throng the Red Fort where Nehru addresses independent India for the first time and hoists the national flag. Freedom after decades of struggle and hope, sacrifice and idealism. "A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when an age ends, when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance."