Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes 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, 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. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her successes and, her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?
Freedom and power bring responsibility. That responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.
That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we might fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.
And so we have to labour and to work and work hard to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.
To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.
Watch the Historic Speech
Historic footage of Jawaharlal Nehru delivering his famous 'Tryst With Destiny' speech on the eve of India's independence
About This Speech
Historical Context
This speech was delivered by Jawaharlal Nehru on the eve of India's independence, at the stroke of midnight on August 14-15, 1947. It marked the end of nearly 200 years of British colonial rule and the birth of the world's largest democracy. The speech was delivered to the Constituent Assembly of India in New Delhi, as the Indian flag was hoisted for the first time as a free nation.
Significance
Considered one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century, 'A Tryst With Destiny' captured the hopes and aspirations of a newly independent India. The speech set the tone for India's approach to governance, emphasizing service to the people, ending poverty and inequality, and India's role in the global community. Its poetic language and philosophical depth made it an enduring symbol of India's independence struggle.
About Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) was India's first Prime Minister and a central figure in the Indian independence movement. Educated at Harrow and Cambridge, he was deeply influenced by Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence. Nehru served as Prime Minister from 1947 until his death in 1964, shaping modern India's democratic institutions, foreign policy of non-alignment, and commitment to secularism and socialism.
About the Occasion
The speech was delivered at a special midnight session of the Constituent Assembly, timed to coincide with India's independence at the stroke of midnight. This dramatic timing was chosen to mark the transition from colonial rule to freedom, as Nehru famously said, 'when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.'
Additional Resources
- Original text on Wikisource Complete text of the speech as preserved in the public domain
- Jawaharlal Nehru - Wikipedia Biographical information about India's first Prime Minister