THIS DAY, THE 15TH OF AUGUST

in the year 1947, the rhythms of RULE BRITANNICA  in 

India ebbed to an everlasting perdendo. Sixty nine years, 

and three generations later, the three things most Indians 

recall of that day are Gandhi, Nehru, and a speech, ‘tryst        

with destiny’.

“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…..” Jawaharlal Nehru

On this day Congress too redeemed its pledge of Poorna 

Swaraj made in 1929.Though Lord Curzon in all his 

foolhardiness and imperial hauteur felt  Congress “tottering 

to its fall” in 1905 and did all “to assist it to a peaceful 

demise” it proved resilient enough to outlast British 

appetite for an extended colonial  rule. Within a relatively 

short span of 62 years of continuing existence Congress 

relieved the ‘white man’ of his ‘burden’. Two years ago, on 

this very day, Allied Powers had formally declared victory 

over an imperial Japan that had capitulated a day before. 

What better day could there be to write the epitaph of British 

imperialism in India too ?

In the cyclical flow of time some days are rendered 

conspicuous by history. India’s day of deliverance, 15th 

August, ushered in freedom in four nations-Korea, Congo, 

Leichtenstein and Bahrain. In fact it was a happy augury for 

anti-colonial movements everywhere, particularly in Asia 

where over the next 20 years, save for Hong Kong; all 

vestiges of long endured colonialism were interred.

On this day, a new nation's name was pasted on the global 

map, a free nation of emancipated American slaves. Liberia 

is a historical quirk, a unique case of assisted reverse 

migration .When slavery was abolished in America, 

thousands of Afro-American slaves gained manumission but 

lost a roof over their head. Disowned by white masters as 

corrupting influence on ‘American’ culture, and objects of 

intense racial dislike they had nowhere to go. Trust the 

American to find a way out. An American Colonization 

Society sprouted that relocated the free slaves in batches 

along a string of new settlements on the west coast of 

Africa. In 1824 on 15^th August these settlements conjoined 

to become Liberia.

On this day other significant historical footprints were:

1. for cricket lovers, Fred Truman took his 300^th wicket and 

Ian Botham scored a test century in 86 balls against 

Australia at Old Trafford

2. the ‘Day of the Jackal’ ended in 1994 with the arrest of   

Carlos, nicknamed, the jackal, in Khartoum, Sudan by the 

French cops. Carlos was associated with almost all terrorist 

organisations of the day- Japan Red Army, Peoples Front for 

Liberation of Palestine, Organisation of Armed Arab Struggle.

3. two chapters of fascist history were inked. In 1934 Paul 

Von Hindenburg in his last will and testament endorsed 

Hitler’s proposal to revive the fatherland paving the way for 

the horrors of Nazi rule. Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 and 

in the year 1796 Napolean Bonaparte of Corsica was born 

4. Apple launched its iconic internet based laptop I-mac

5. in 1998, Bill Clinton broke the heart of his wife, Hillary 

Clinton by confessing to her details of his ‘brief and sporadic’ 

salacious dalliances with Monica Lewinsky

6. the 'The Wizard of Oz' premiered at Grauman Chinese 

Theatre, Hollywood . Though Walt Disney’s ‘Snow White 

and the Seven Dwarfs’ was the first ever feature length 

animated movie, Oz dwarfed it at  popularity stakes by 

quite some distance.  Its unique characters - the brainless 

scarecrow, the literally heartless Tin man,the lion who knew 

not why he was a coward,the witches and wizards are all 

now an integral  part of children's world of fantasy. The 

Library of Congress maintains Oz to be the most watched 

film of all times.The catchphrase ‘there’s no place like 

home' is OZ's gift to posterity

True, there’s no place like home and no nation like our own.