In 1947, a cry went across the earth that there had come to birth a new nation, herself born of ancient civilization, and tested by the rod of a colonial oppressor. Her rivers were vast and mystic; her landscape fabulously fecund; her beaches the places from which the setting sun gently gave way to encroaching night. Her shores were a beacon for lonely wanderers, from hippies to Himalayan climbers. Her jungles teemed with life of all kinds, their form too wondrous to imagine.
In her early days, her light did flicker, tested as she was by the mass migration of men, the shepherding apart of those who bore witness to the oneness of god, and those whose deities were as multitudinous as the waves of the sea. But it came to be that as many as did stay behind, and as many as did begin to call it a newfound home, they became a part of the spirit and the essence of the nation, and did form the foundation of a future world power.
For her flickering light would not be distinguished, her vast promise not left unfulfilled.
She came to know struggle, but not defeat. She knew divisions, but not a breaking apart. For her conviction in the goodness and the promise of her people was strong and certain.
And lo, she would witness Indira Gandhi on Oct 31, 1984, Babri Masjid in 1992, Gujarat in 2002, and Mumbai in 2008, and her spirit would be tested, somewhat dampened, but never broken. For she had become a strong nation, prepared for anything, but expecting the best, believing that she was destined to make a difference among nations.
And she did send forth her sons and her daughters, children born of a subcontinent's dreams, and the world over they became the engineers, the IT professionals, and the architects who led the way in building, connecting, and designing in their adopted homelands. And on her own soil was given the sometimes ruthless blessing of intense competition, and her institutions of technology became the envy of the world. And her great cities became hubs international commerce, and call centers, thousands and thousands of eager minds ready to solve the discrepancies, large and small, peculiar to the technologies wrought by men. And her confidence in continued success became as certain as the knowledge that the rice paddies will yield rice, her belief in her ongoing economic growth as firm as the certainty that the dawn will yield light.
Thus she knew difficulties only as a necessity to become triumphant, viewing them as the fire that refines gold.
Today the good fight is waged against graft, through hunger strikes, and by means of thousands of voices raised in unison, demanding accountability in government. Her people do not grow weary in this good fight, for they know the accomplishments of 64 years, many of which were deemed impossible to achieve, before they were achieved.
For within her has come forth the most remarkable miracle of all - the miracle of unity. From 1.2 billion people, and 1600 different languages, vast differences in culture and religion, there was ingrained in each individual a powerful sense of identity, a palpable sense of pride in the country that bore them.
And so she continues forth, confident that her best days are yet ahead, unabashed and unbowed, a very young and very vibrant 64 years old, attentive to the lessons of the past, conscious of the promise of the present, alert to the potential of the future.
In her early days, her light did flicker, tested as she was by the mass migration of men, the shepherding apart of those who bore witness to the oneness of god, and those whose deities were as multitudinous as the waves of the sea. But it came to be that as many as did stay behind, and as many as did begin to call it a newfound home, they became a part of the spirit and the essence of the nation, and did form the foundation of a future world power.
For her flickering light would not be distinguished, her vast promise not left unfulfilled.
She came to know struggle, but not defeat. She knew divisions, but not a breaking apart. For her conviction in the goodness and the promise of her people was strong and certain.
And lo, she would witness Indira Gandhi on Oct 31, 1984, Babri Masjid in 1992, Gujarat in 2002, and Mumbai in 2008, and her spirit would be tested, somewhat dampened, but never broken. For she had become a strong nation, prepared for anything, but expecting the best, believing that she was destined to make a difference among nations.
And she did send forth her sons and her daughters, children born of a subcontinent's dreams, and the world over they became the engineers, the IT professionals, and the architects who led the way in building, connecting, and designing in their adopted homelands. And on her own soil was given the sometimes ruthless blessing of intense competition, and her institutions of technology became the envy of the world. And her great cities became hubs international commerce, and call centers, thousands and thousands of eager minds ready to solve the discrepancies, large and small, peculiar to the technologies wrought by men. And her confidence in continued success became as certain as the knowledge that the rice paddies will yield rice, her belief in her ongoing economic growth as firm as the certainty that the dawn will yield light.
Thus she knew difficulties only as a necessity to become triumphant, viewing them as the fire that refines gold.
Today the good fight is waged against graft, through hunger strikes, and by means of thousands of voices raised in unison, demanding accountability in government. Her people do not grow weary in this good fight, for they know the accomplishments of 64 years, many of which were deemed impossible to achieve, before they were achieved.
For within her has come forth the most remarkable miracle of all - the miracle of unity. From 1.2 billion people, and 1600 different languages, vast differences in culture and religion, there was ingrained in each individual a powerful sense of identity, a palpable sense of pride in the country that bore them.
And so she continues forth, confident that her best days are yet ahead, unabashed and unbowed, a very young and very vibrant 64 years old, attentive to the lessons of the past, conscious of the promise of the present, alert to the potential of the future.
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