On 15 August 1947, when independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, delivered his famous ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech in Parliament House, New Delhi, a parallel celebration was unfolding in Bombay.
The chief minister of the erstwhile Bombay State, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, unfurled the Indian tri-colour at the Bombay Civil Secretariat (today the City Civil and Sessions Court, across from the Oval Maidan). His words, though not as memorable as Nehru’s, declared to the assembled crowd: “Citizens of Free India, you are now free.”[1] Perhaps not too many people caught those words in a city besieged by crowds celebrating for two full days.