Before and after Independence: How has India changed?

This August 15, a young boy asked me the difference between pre-independent and post-independent India. The question caught me by surprise because as an individual who has seen India before 1947, it’s like someone asking the difference between black and white. For a moment, I processed the answer in my head. Where do I even start? And then I thought it best to begin with an anecdote from my childhood that highlights the glaring difference between ghulami (slavery) and azadi (independence).

It was a weekday morning and I was going to school with a friend of mine. We were walking on the footpath when we saw an open jeep with British officials coming towards us from the opposite side. The driver seemed in no mood to either stop the vehicle or turn it away from us. It seemed like an attempt to run us over. When the jeep got dangerously close and we realised that they had no intention of hitting the brake, we jumped into a drain running along the road. What did we do to deserve this? Well, we were wearing clean clothes and using the sidewalk. They just didn’t like a couple of Indian children going to school in clean uniforms. This, according to them, was a “privilege” reserved for the English kids.

Millions of people had to put up with this conduct of the British for taking the smallest of liberties in their own country. It must be hard for youngsters to imagine but make no mistake, they saw us as their slaves and treated us accordingly. During silent sit-in protests (satyagraha), people, even the elderly, were beaten mercilessly and often put behind bars. Several of our leaders, including Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, Sukhdev Thapar, Mangal Pandey, and others were hanged to death. It took a lot of great sacrifices for India to achieve its long drawn freedom battle.

I vividly remember the day we achieved independence. On August 15, 1947, I was in Delhi. My elder brother, who was in the Army, was deployed there. His father-in-law was also posted in Delhi Cantt. We somehow managed to arrange a military vehicle and roamed all around Delhi, which was lit up with bright colours. People were celebrating on the streets with the tricolour in their hands and raising the slogan of Bharat Mata ki Jai. We also passed by the India Gate and Parliament House where our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was giving his famous “India’s tryst with destiny” speech. It’s hard to describe in words the sentiment among people on that glorious day.

Today, as an independent nation, people have rights and liberties and our Constitution gives us the right to live the way we want to. All citizens are equal and we all enjoy the same freedom. It’s nothing like pre-independent India.

I hope this explains to the young boy the difference between ghulami and azadi.