Tryst with Destiny

While growing up, like so many others of my generation, I never liked Nehru and always blamed him to be the cause of India's current problems. But today on his 43rd death anniversary, when I ponder myself...I think I may have been prejudiced and biased then. Lets for a moment forget what he could have done, what he failed at miserably, his "panch-sheel" and disastrous relation with China, could he have avoided partition and subsequent millions of lives lost in riots, his Kashmir policy, his attitude towards Subhas Chandra Bose or Vallavbhai Patel, his desperation to become 1st Prime Minister of Free India. These questions are very difficult to answer but lets think for a moment what he had done for India.

Maybe the initiatives he took did not reap its fruits immediately but after 60 years of independence I think we can certainly give credit to him and his basic foundation policies for today's success India is witnessing.

He certainly had a vision for the country.

He pioneered the concept of Non Alignment which was needed at that time to make India self reliant on many sectors and not blindly dependent on Russia or US. He carefully avoided India to follow the Capitalism, or Communism path and rather chose a mild socialist path where govenrnment invested and build the infrastructure to launch the economy. Had we relied on US from day one of independence I cant even imagine what would have been today's India.

Though he ensured that basic industry and economics remains closed to outsiders but high technology sectors were kept open, which we needed very much. He truly beleived in industry and technology and their importnace to move the country ahead. It must have taken guts to choose the western way of economics and technology for the free India, differing with Gandhi who wanted India to be cottage-industry based economy. All the major public sectors (be it Steel, Oil, Power...including Hydroelectric and Nuclear) were built during 1950s. His education policy is credited for today's world class institutions of IITs, IIMs (BTW my engineering college , now NIT Raipur was also founded by him in 1954).

So with all "gila-shikwaa maaf", today I salute the person who delivered us this speech on midnight 14th Aug 1947, for it was he and his vision which is certainly benefiting India today!

"Long years ago 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."