When the clock struck midnight on August 15, 1947, India shed nearly two centuries of colonial rule. Inside the Central Hall of Parliament, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s words carried the hush and hope of the moment: “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.”
For millions, that was when history turned. As dawn broke, New Delhi’s streets throbbed with celebration. Among the first images of India’s democracy rose from the sandstone blocks of the Central Secretariat — the South Block and the North Block — and the circular Parliament building.
Under the monsoon sky, ordinary Indians — men, women, and children — claimed as theirs what had been the power centre of the British Empire. The joy was raw and collective, spreading beyond the capital to towns, villages and even across borders.
For the diaspora, too, the moment carried deep resonance. In Bangkok, nearly 3,000 Indians gathered at the consulate to watch consul Bhagwat Dayal hoist the tricolour. Braving through the pouring rain, they stood at attention as he addressed them in Hindustani.
Even commerce paused to salute. Independence Day editions of The Hindu, The Statesman, The Pioneer, and The Times of India all carried advertisements less about selling and more about belonging. In The Hindu’s 32-page edition, now a collector’s item, brands like Tata, Bosotto Hotel, Colgate, Amrutanjan, Philips and Hind Cycles pledged loyalty to the new nation. There was also a small announcement about Carnatic legend MS Subbulakshmi’s special Independence Day performance on All India Radio.
Two days earlier, then US President Harry S Truman had sent a goodwill message pledging friendship. “In the years to come, the people of this great nation will find the United States a constant friend,” he wrote, expressing hope for “close and fruitful cooperation”.
In The Bombay Chronicle, then deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel paid tribute to those who had sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle. Meanwhile, Edwina and Louis Mountbatten, until then the governor-general of India, vacated the Viceroy’s House (now the Rashtrapati Bhavan).
“At this historic moment, let us not forget all that India owes to Mahatma Gandhi,” Louis Mountbatten said. “We miss his presence here today.” Gandhi was not in Delhi for the official celebrations. He was in Calcutta (now Kolkata), trying to
quell communal violence unleashed by the partition. Punjab, too, found itself in the shadows. Trains of refugees rolled in, many bearing witness to horrific carnage. Independence had come, but it carried both triumph and tragedy. As Gandhi fasted for peace, his message of non-violence remained as powerful as during the struggle for independence: a reminder that freedom without harmony is incomplete.
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 "First dawn - India's new hours of independence")
