Google gives Indians a virtual ‘tryst with destiny’ on Independence Day

At midnight on August 14, 1947, India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, delivered one of the great speeches of the 20th century: “Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge… At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.”

Today, Google transports you back in time to those stirring moments. A Google Maps virtual tour lets you retrace the footsteps of Nehru from his oath in Parliament to the Red Fort where he unfurled the Indian flag and addressed the nation – a tradition that current prime minister Narendra Modi carries forward today. A virtual exhibit from the Google Cultural Institute also lets you go inside the Red Fort complex where Mughal emperors once lived.

Images from the Nehru museum depict India’s freedom struggle. There’s also a tour of the dreaded cellular jail in the Andaman islands where freedom-fighters were tortured.

Today, on India’s 69th birthday, it’s an occasion to celebrate the hard-fought freedom, and also to take stock of how far India has fulfilled the promise and potential.