In 1947, when we broke free from British rule, we were to be united as one country for the first time in the history of our land. And for the first time, many millions of us were going to share a common identity—of being Indian. Together, while preserving all that made us gloriously different, we built a nation.

We’ve come a long way since.

To commemorate India entering her 70th year as an independent state, we asked 10 Indians born in 1947 about their ‘idea of India’. As individuals who share her birth year and have practised their chosen professions at the highest level, their careers are among the yardsticks by which we can measure the progress of the nation. They grew up in a symbiotic system where their every stumble or achievement has been a reflection of the nation’s progress, even while a growing nation nurtured them.

Seventy years on, as they point out, they are in their silver years—but India is just coming of age. While growth has been slow on various fronts and things far from ideal, our ‘midnight’s children’ remain optimistic, believing in the foundation they have laid down. With hard work and harmony, by embracing our differences instead of fearing them, they believe we can march to greatness.

—Natasha Rego

FLAVIA AGNES

AMAL ALLANA

JAHAR DAS

DR PREM SHANKAR GOEL

V K B NAIR

DR S Y QURAISHI

DR HIMANSHI SHELAT

DR LALJI SINGH

SHUVAPRASANNA

DR L SUBRAMANIAM

Photo: iStock
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
August 2016