Midnight's Hollow Victory: India's Unfinished Freedom As we mark the 74th anniversary of India's independence, it is easy to get caught up in the nostalgia and grandeur of Jawaharlal Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny" speech.
But beneath the triumphant rhetoric lies a more complicated story – one that highlights the unfinished business of freedom.
The events of August 15, 1947, were not simply a celebration of Britain's departure but the first public act of a government that suddenly had to govern.