INDEPENDENCE DAY : A People’s History

Seventy-five years ago, India attained its independence. What was it like to be an ordinary citizen during that time? How did they celebrate the first Independence Day? What was the atmosphere like on the streets, in cities and towns and faraway villages? How did the people feel? And how do they feel today about the country they witnessed being born?

In this extraordinarily moving book, fifteen Indians from across the country tell their stories of their first Independence Day– some were no more than four or five, others, young adults about to enter college. Some lived in far-off places without the newspaper or the radio to give them the news; some had never seen an Englishman and didn’t know what freedom meant.Others lived in fear of communal riots and their lives being destroyed.