VAISHUMAHAVIJAY

"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. 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."
from Jawaharlal Nehru (Speech on Indian Independence Day, 1947).

The day when India woke up to freedom back in 1947 was a day of great celebration. A country got rid of her foreign yoke and became a sovereign nation, she celebrated her sovereignty on this day - the triumph of numerous martyred souls. It was a day of fulfillment, it was the day of a new beginning, a birth of a nation.On the stroke of midnight, a country came into life again as the british handed over the governance of India to the Indian leaders.The long and difficult struggle had borne fruit at last, though the happiness was marred by the fact that the country was divided into India and Pakistan and the violent communal riots had left the countries permanently scarred.

That was the price that India paid for her dearly bought freedom. The british government declared the country independent and left for their own shores. On the 15th of August, 1947, India became completely independent. It was on this historic date that Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime Minister of India, unfurled the Indian tricolor on the ramparts the magnificent Red Fort, symbolically marking the end of the british colonial rule."
http://www.123independenceday.com/indian/independence/day/

The day is marked with flag hosting and cultural programs in the state capital and the Prime Minister's speech at the Red Fort in Delhi is the major attraction of the day's celebration. The day is celebrated as a national holiday. Schools and people hoist the national flag through out the country and put them up on the rooftops and the buildings. It is a day of celebration across India and people of all age are in a holiday mood. All the government offices are closed on this day but they are lit up with tri color lights and flag hoisting ceremonies are performed in almost all the schools and colleges to mark the occasion. Roads are decorated with tricolor flags and lights to give a patriotic feel.
http://www.festivalsinindia.net/independence-day/index.html