india @ 76

1

good morning, everyone.

it's the morning of 15th august.. 1947. even before the sun is fully awake, you have found your newspaper right in front of your doorstep. well, at least, even 76 years later, some things haven't changed.

at the same time, they have. or have they? let's find out. you pick up the
newspaper. it's 'the statesman'. the headline goes, "TWO DOMINIONS ARE BORN– political freedom for one-fifth of human race." so, what's changed? obviously, put population is definitely a little bit higher now. we are still somewhere the one-fifth, but without the pakistan population, which was included then.

pakistan. one of the two dominions. before that– why is the word 'dominion' being used? [even though india became independent in 1947, it remained a part of commonwealth 'dominions' of britain. that is, self-governing nations. such as, it still shared a monarch with some other nations till 1950, including.. pakistan.] in simple words, 'dominion' is a territory, of a sovereign, of a government. in this context, the english. all self-governing nations of british, were dominions. when india became independent in 1947, george vi: who was previously the 'emperor' of india– which solidified india as a british territory, became the 'king' of india, which means,  india still shared the monarch with other commonwealth 'dominions' of britain till 1950. including.. pakistan. 

1971, siachen, kargil. the relations with our dear neighbour in these 76 years arises conflicting opinions among common populance. some will say, it's the same. it's all the same. in a different light: geographical, cultural, matrimonial, sports, they have definitely been looking up as well. one way or another. by mentioning 1971, i'm cutting short on talking about our relations with other dear neighbours, but hopefully it's understood where we stand.

let's read below a little. a little to the left, almost parallel to the headline it reads, "close friendship with britain: nehru's reply to mr. attlee". keeping, rishi sunak aside: who is the first indian and asian prime minister for united kingdom as we all know, politically: There have been regular exchanges of visits at the Prime Ministerial level since the Strategic Partnership in 2004. in fact, indians are one of the biggest minorities in uk. foreign relations in general, have said to drastically increase in these 76 years. and in terms of trade development, india jumped three places to become the United States' ninth largest trading partner in 2021– right after covid. once a 'third-world country,' india is now the fifth largest growing economy in the world.

in the middle of the page, it's written, "joyful scenes in culcutta– celebration by hindus and muslims." keeping partition aside, every year we all stand united to celebrate, our independence. and i'm glad not much has changed on this part.

now you reach the bottom. the newspaper folds and the upper half drops to probably dip in your tea unceremoniously. you read the final title, "it's an omega," it says, in the most beautiful font among all. it's an advertisement– for a watch. you sigh and finally keep the paper aside, pick up your cold tea: and if you were to wonder in 1947 what india's future holds, how things will change, won't change, for better, for the worse– you don't have to worry that much. at least your favourite chai, daily akhbar, and the same bland watch advertisement on the front page, even if you have gained independence that day– will be waiting for you right there even 76 years later. it'd  say not much has changed of india at 76.

or, has it?