Tryst With Destiny (film)
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"Tryst with Destiny" was an
English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
speech by
Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...
, the first
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, to the Indian Constituent Assembly in the
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, on the eve of
India's Independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement t ...
, towards midnight on 14 August 1947. The speech spoke on the aspects that transcended
Indian history Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; by 4500 ...
. It is considered to be one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and to be a landmark oration that captures the essence of the triumphant culmination of the
Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...
against British colonial rule in India. He declared the end of the colonial era and called on citizens to recognize the promise and opportunity of the moment:
Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny. Now the time has come when we shall 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, 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.
His speech went on to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi's efforts in the Independence Movement and called upon his countrymen to work together to
bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.
The declaration ends with an exhortation to work together in the
common weal Common Weal is a Scottish pro-independence think tank and advocacy group which campaigns for social and economic equality in Scotland. It launched in 2013 and regularly publishes papers and works exploring an alternate economic and social model ...
and cautions against narrow
sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...
or religious divisiveness:
All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.


Popular culture

* The final episode of the 1984 series '' The Jewel in the Crown'' contains extracts of the speech. * The speech is referenced in the 1998
Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and " Hollywood". The industry, producing films in t ...
''
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
'' directed by
Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 15 September 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2 ...
. The film portrays the main characters listening to the speech over the radio, against the backdrop of the
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
-
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
riots following the
Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...
. This provides an interesting juxtaposition between the realities of Partition and the optimism that followed Independence. * ''
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' () is a 2003 Indian political drama film directed by Sudhir Mishra. The film was shot in 2003 but wasn't released until 2005. Set against the backdrop of the Indian Emergency, the movie tells the story of three young ...
'', a Hindi film by
Sudhir Mishra Sudhir Mishra (born 22 January 1959) is an Indian filmmaker. His most notable films include '' Dharavi'' (1992), '' Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' (2003), '' Chameli'' (2004), and '' Serious Men'' (2020). His work has been recognised with three nat ...
that portrayed the political and social turbulence of the late 1960s and the '70s in India contains a clip of the speech and the narrative voice speaks of the souring of Nehru's dream within two decades of Independence. * In the 2000 film ''
Hey Ram ''Hey Ram'' () is a 2000 Indian epic historical fiction film written, directed, and produced by Kamal Haasan, that stars him in the title role with Shah Rukh Khan (in his Tamil debut) in a pivotal role. It was simultaneously made in the Tamil a ...
'' directed by
Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...
, parts of the speech are heard in the background providing the audience a timeline of the happenings in the movie. * The book ''
Midnight's Children ''Midnight's Children'' is the second novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a pos ...
'' by
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
has a reference to this speech as does the novel ''
Train to Pakistan ''Train to Pakistan'' is a historical novel by writer Khushwant Singh, published in 1956. It recounts the Partition of India in August 1947 through the perspective of Mano Majra, a fictional border village. Instead of depicting the Partition ...
'' by
Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh FKC (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write '' Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 ( ...
. * The speech is sampled by trance artist
John 00 Fleming John Fleming (or John "00" Fleming; born 1 April 1969) is an English trance producer and DJ from Worthing, West Sussex. He has had releases on record labels such as Ministry of Sound, Deconstruction Records, Logic Records, and 3 Beat Music. ...
in the album ''One Hundred Ten WKO'' during the fifth track, "The Stroke of the Midnight Hour". * The musical group ''
Kobo Town Kobo Town is a Juno-winning Canadian Caribbean music group, led by Trinidadian Canadian singer and songwriter Drew Gonsalves. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the band blends calypso music with a diverse mix of Caribbean and other musical influences, in ...
'' uses sound clips from this speech in their song "Sing Out, Shout Out" from their album ''Independence''. *The
Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...
film ''
Bharat Bharat, or Bharath, may refer to: * Bharat (term), the name for India in various Indian languages ** India, a country ** Bharata Khanda, the Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent ** Bharatavarsha, another Sanskrit name for the Indian subcon ...
'' also used clips from the speech in their trailer._ * * * The film '' Student of the Year'' mentioned the name of the speech as a clue in the treasure hunt game. * The ''Let's Crack It'' song owned by Unacademy made its intro using the actual speech voice clips. * In the aftermath of the
2008 Mumbai Attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...
, the indie rock band,
Parikrama (Band) Parikrama is a Rock music, rock band from Delhi, India, formed in 1991 in Delhi. The band is considered to be one of Asia's biggest rock groups. Parikrama toured internationally with Iron Maiden in 2007, playing at the Download Festival in Eng ...
, released a single "One" in tribute, which sampled part of the speech * 2012 Hindi film ''
Gangs of Wasseypur ''Gangs of Wasseypur'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language two-part epic black comedy crime film produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap, and written by Kashyap and Zeishan Quadri. Centered on the coal mafia (Mafia Raj) of Dhanbad, and the underlyi ...
'' used clips from this speech in one of the shots featuring the character Shahid Khan.


See also

* Speeches about Indian independence *
The light has gone out of our lives The light has gone out of our lives is a speech that was delivered ex tempore by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, on Martyrs' Day (India), January 30, 1948, following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi earlier that evening. I ...
, speech on the death of Mahatma Gandhi by Nehru


References


External links


Video of Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny" address
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tryst With Destiny Indian independence movement History of the Republic of India 1947 in India Nehru administration 1947 speeches Speeches by Jawaharlal Nehru Speeches about colonialism Inaugural addresses