Episode 1 will set up the series - and give us a sense of the process of the making of a nation: an endeavour filled with courage and near-audacious ideas of egalitarianism in a world that still wondered about the wisdom of universal franchise. In this episode, we will cover the Constituent Assembly Debates, the consolidation of the princely states into India, and the aftermath of the Partition.
Episode 2 will look at the initial feelings of hope and idealism, right after Independence, and some of the big initiatives taken to create a fair and just society. We will look at, among many things, the bhoodan movement, the abolition of Zamindari, the first elections of independent India and the change in personal laws.
Episode 3 will look at the 1950s and the 1960s - the linguistic reorganization of states, language conflicts and Indo-China war, economic stagnation, rise in prices, unemployment and food shortages. Was the fairytale over? And with many newly independent neighbours descending into different forms of dictatorship, would India buck the trend and stay a democratic republic?
This episode looks at the 1970s after Indira Gandhi took charge and resolved to make India of her father's dreams. The challenges were many - the green revolution, nationalization of the banks, abolition of the privy purses, pressures from the US, the influx of refugees from the troubled state of East Pakistan - and the subsequent war with Pakistan.
In 1975, the High Court ruled Indira Gandhi's election in 1971 null and void. The unthinkable happened, and a state of emergency was declared in India. The events of 1975 read like a thriller, and what ensued post the imposition of the Emergency undermined the promise of 'life and freedom' that India had awoken to in 1947.
Never had the idea of India been so challenged as it was during this phase. Secessionist movements gained strength across the country - from Kashmir in the north, to Punjab in the west and Assam in the east. Terrorism raised its ugly head for the first time. In 1986, the gates to the temple in Ayodhya were opened, while the Supreme Court's Shah Bano judgement was overturned.
Things began to get better - an uneasy peace prevailed in Punjab, and a few peace accords were signed in the North-east.. The stage was set for new movements - as for the first time, the environment came to the fore, women fought for their rights and the dispossessed asserted themselves. And then, it was discovered that the country had less than 3 weeks of forex left for imports.
The last decades saw many churns - from the anti-corruption movement to the slowing down of the economy: it was an uneven decade. In 2014, for the first time ever the BJP gained control. With coming of Covid, life came to a standstill. Was the old way of the world lost forever? As we reached our 75th year of being, these were some of the questions that remained.
They say it all began with a big bang - in India, a new period was ushered in with the 1991 economic liberalisation. The Rao-Singh duo brought in the biggest economic change possible, and it was only the beginning. BPOs, technology, beauty pageants - India seemed to be shining everywhere. Satellite television made an entry and the way in which we spoke of ourselves changed forever!
The arrival of the new millennium saw India's arrival too, on the global stage. The Y2K problem had the world in a tizzy - and Indian engineers rose to the occasion and put to rest fears of computing apocalypse with the dawn of the 2000s. In 2008, when the recession hit the world, India was the only country to remain untouched by it. What saved us from this nightmare?