'Long ago we made a tryst with destiny'

Jawaharlal Nehru's jewel encrusted first eight words to Tryst with Destiny, one of the greatest speeches of all time. Indian independence was achieved 77 years ago tomorrow.

This speech is impossibly grand, and wonderful.

It was delivered by Nehru, a man who had been a leader of the independence movement for decades, who had gone to jail on multiple occasions for his uncompromising commitment to freedom, a diplomat who brought the independence cause to the wider world, and the elected leader who would the next day become In…