August 14th, 1947.

60 years ago today, India was torn apart in a bloody partition, a violent process, that severed hearts, minds, lives, and families, as well as the country itself.

Decisions made on that day divided one of the most ethically diverse yet peaceful nations in the world, the repercussions of which would still be felt so many decades on.

However, that night also marked the liberation of this new India,

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again."
- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

And the Tiranga was born,

"Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation of disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change."

August 14th, 2007.

Today, the worlds largest democracy, and possibly the greatest example of secular tolerance celebrates 60 years of Independence.

"In India today,

we have a lady born a Catholic (Sonia Gandhi)

stepping aside so a Sikh (Manmohan Singh)

could be sworn in by a Muslim president (Abdul Kalam)

to lead a nation that's 82% Hindu.

I defy anyone to cite another country with such diversity and tolerance to its political leadership."

India, congratulations!