What is the mood in the streets of India on August 14, 1947? If you expected cheering crowds and processions of jubilation on the eve of Independence, here’s the sobering truth: not everyone is celebrating.

For some princely states, accession to the Indian Union is not a natural choice. Punjab, Sind and Bengal, cloven by Partition, witness scenes of horrific violence and the displacement of millions. The birth of our nation, as the facts reveal, is not without its share of labour pangs.

In the season finale of The India Project with Josy Joseph, we observe the awakening of India as an unstoppable idea whose time has come. With memorable sound-bites from the leaders of a newly free nation, we end Season 1 on a note of nostalgic introspection.

Thank you for joining us on the journey so far.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to Confluence Media for the letters in this episode:

Letter from CP Ramaswami Iyer replying to Indore’s invitation to be the Prime minister performed by Narayan Krishnaswamy

Letter from Mir Osman Ali, Nizam of Hyderabad, performed by Ranvijay Pratap Singh

Letter from Hamidullah Khan, Nawab of Bhopal, to Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, performed by Kafeel Jafri

View the full list of acknowledgements on our website: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/radio-azim-premji-university

Credits:

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar