August 14, 1947: Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, announced the birth of a new nation, born after more than a century of colonial rule, with these golden words -- "At the Stroke of the Midnight Hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom... Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?" The rationalist in India's best-loved Prime Minister was evident in his speech. 'The great day' that millions of people have been dreaming about for years, at last materialised -- a day of rapturous jubilation! Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru worked together on the values that should shape this new great nation. However, the signing of the Constitution of India did not take place till 26 January 1950; much has happened to this magnificent country since the independence, both good and bad. Gandhiji, the apostle of non-violence and leader of freedom movement, was against the partition but even he was unable to stop the greatest forced migration of Hindus and Muslims that followed. A Hindu extremist shot and killed Gandhiji only six months after the Independence, Indira Gandhi, the second woman in the world to become the Prime Minister of a nation and who served as Prime Minister for 16 years, was assassinated in 1984; her son, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was also killed by terrorist in 1991. And now, India has Pratibha Patil as its first Woman President at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

The nation proudly celebrated the 'Golden Jubilee of India's Independence' on August 15 in 1997, and when the world was asleep, India woke up to two voices -- Latha Mangeshkar singing 'Sare Jahan-se achcha' and Pundit Bhimsen Joshi, 'Vande Matharam'. However, the living legend 'Yesudas' with his enigmatic voice would have been the ideal choice to take the floor in the Central Hall of Parliament when the country celebrated its golden jubilee; he achieved 'National integration' through the medium of music, bringing people together despite deep rooted barriers of caste, zones, and languages, which makes him more suited than most, to lift the nation's spirit to celestial heights on the glorious occasion -- no disrespect to Pundit Joshi or Latha Mangeshkar is intended as they both are great singers.

India has been moving forward steadily since independence. The green revolution of the 1960s has helped the farmers to feed the nation's starving millions and export a surplus! Education has helped the once powerless and untouchables to make their voices heard and their numbers felt at the polls. It is quite remarkable that India has retained its faith in constitutional democracy in spite of many crisis; wars with Pakistan and China, natural disasters and communal violence, to mention a few. India has plunged into world economy; cable, television and satellite dishes seem to be everywhere, even in remote villages! Computer software is not alien to the man on the street. India ranks as one of the ten largest emerging markets in the world; but progress in different states is as varied as the multitude of customs and languages that prevail in different parts of India.

Creative writing in various Indian languages and English has been very popular in India that has gained a great momentum during the past few years; many writers have achieved national and global acclaim. Indian women have emerged as the 'Superpower', having representation in all walks of life, Prime Minister, ministers, judges, state governors, doctors and engineers, to mention a few. Our achievements in the field of education, medicine, engineering, agriculture, telecommunication, music and computer technology have been highly commendable; the progress has been steady but slow! While the modern technology has transformed the face of India, life in remote villages and tribal settlements has escaped the international consumer culture; rural life goes on as they have always done, despite the invasion of electronic media.

Although the constitution prohibits discrimination by caste, it still handicaps millions of citizens; however, the Dalits, have representation in India's Supreme Court and India had its first Dalit Head of State in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Mr K R Narayanan from Uzhavoor, Kottayam District and elected for Lok Sabha from Ottapalam in Kerala State was India's President, when the nation celebrated the golden jubilee of freedom -- a great scholar with a first-class honours degree in political science from London School of Economics, diplomat, Union minister, parliamentarian, and Vice President; few of his attributes that made him worthy of the nation's highest office. Kerala State has achieved 100 % literacy rate and has one of the best maternal and infant mortality rate in India. Gandhiji had a vast following in Kerala, who believed in Gandhian philosophy, spending many years behind bars during the independent struggle: K. Kelappen, K P Keshava Menon, Kuttanadu Ramakrishna Pillai, K P Madhavan Nair, A M Thomas, C M Stephen, V K Krishna Menon, to mention a few. They, along with the other freedom fighters from all other states in India, dedicated their lives for the country during the freedom movement and since the independence -- their dedication and sacrifices should never be forgotten!

It is a known fact that the brains behind any ruling Government are its Administrative Services, IAS, IPS, IRS and IFS and Armed Forces that go on working even during political turmoil. Kerala can take pride in having produced IAS officers like Dr Daniel Babu Paul who revolutionised the image of the civil service in many ways. He has shown how to stay above the constraints of religion and politics to improve relationship among people of different beliefs. In spite of having retired from the services, it is his opinion that people still value when faced with a crisis in Kerala; his unbiased analysis of any situation is proof of his discipline and efficiency, and a true reflection of the credibility of the ‘Old School of Indian Administrative Services’! It was Sardar Patel’s dream to have a disciplined Administrative Service without any interference from the political party and one hopes that this concept is strictly adhered to, for the smooth functioning of our Governments – we need to abolish corruption and have disciplined officers like Dr Babu Paul in our Civil Service to uphold the Nation’s pride in our democracy and culture – one should remember here that there are others in the Service who serve us equally proud! It is essential that the political parties acknowledge that the Civil Service is the backbone of a government.

Creative writing in various Indian languages and English has been very popular in India that has gained a great momentum during the past few years; many writers have achieved national and global acclaim. Indian women have emerged as the 'Superpower', having representation in all walks of life, Prime Minister, ministers, judges, state governors, doctors and engineers, to mention a few. Our achievements in the field of education, medicine, engineering, agriculture, telecommunication, music and computer technology have been highly commendable; the progress has been steady but slow! While the modern technology has transformed the face of India, life in remote villages and tribal settlements has escaped the international consumer culture; rural life goes on as they have always done, despite the invasion of electronic media.

India has always taken pride in the concept of 'unity in diversity' and the progress in different walks of life has done very little to hinder this concept. One still finds decorated mud walls in villages with paintings of amazing beauty and city homes with flower decoration traced across the threshold. Though life is hard and filled with unimaginable drudgery at times, most people still find time to sing, dance and celebrate; then there are those who have a life of high fashion and glamour, designer clothes, night clubs, beauty pageants and modelling. Within these two extremes, we have the middle class, teachers and scientists, social workers, artists, classical dancers and musicians who devote themselves to an ancient art that is still vibrantly alive; amidst all this diversity, one finds rocket launching pads and stock exchange!

Gandhiji and Nehru had a dream -- a prosperous and united India -- the proud nation is still trying to reach that goal! In spite of modernism, we still believe in religion, integrity and family values, and one hopes that the 'Vibrant dream' will be fulfilled soon. To achieve this dream, one must remember here that the nation needs its people to work very hard forgetting all their differences. The new generation has to work towards achieving a better quality of life, by improving the roads in our country, abolishing corruption at all levels and better judgement at choosing the political leaders, provision of good water supply and sanitation, awareness of ones civic duties by stopping 'Harthals', strikes and ‘Sit-ins’ that stop the country's progress, better care for our elders and learning to love and respect others -- yes, we have a long way to go! Unless we overcome the fear of those whose faith is different from our own, we cannot build a free, just, and caring nation -- we need to do it individually and collectively without waiting for our government to take the lead.

© E Menon

Published in Kerala Link