Today, we mark the 79th year of India’s Independence ,freedom from a British empire that once colonised nearly half the world, despite India being the second-largest democracy today.
This moment takes me back to the time when India was under ruthless oppression, a nation deeply wounded economically, spiritually, and culturally.
A few years ago, I’ll admit, I was more influenced by Western culture. I saw India through a different lens, perhaps as a country lagging behind many in the West in terms of economic power, industrialisation, and other measurable progress.
Then, I came across a famous debate by Indian politician and author Shashi Tharoor, which led me to his renowned book An Era of Darkness. Reading it was an eye-opening experience. Through hard facts, it changed my perspective entirely. I learned how one of the world’s mightiest civilisations was reduced from holding 23% of the global economy to just 3%, stripped of its wealth and dignity, largely because its people, full of humility, did not know how to stand up for themselves.
But today, almost eight decades later, India has learned to rise, to fight for its rights, and to lead with pride in its culture.
This is the same country that now serves 1.4 billion people, scaling everything, from our education system to our railways, from UPI payments to the democratic voting process to work at a scale unmatched anywhere in the world.
India is on its way to becoming the third-largest economy, still leading with the humility that has always been part of our character.
Like any patriotic citizen, I am proud of my country. And I appreciate India far more deeply now than I did a few years ago.
It’s true , “We will never be able to understand where we are going until we know where we are coming from.”
Your perspective matters! Please share it with me in the comments.