A man who shaped independent India - but didn't dominate it

On Independence Day, a look at one of India's most powerful, and self-effacing, leaders. An edited excerpt from 'The Man Who Saved India' by Hindol Sengupta.

Instead of admiring those who created infrastructure and knowledge for us, we worship only those who represent power. This has dented our Independence, making us callow, even at 71.

Independent, yet feudal - 'India's icons' reveal the mindset that still colonises us

What you won't find about India in PM Modi's Independence Day speech

Things you won't find about India in PM Modi's Independence Day speech

Don't let the stream of live coverage fool you into wasting your time with someone else's 'fact-checks'. It's your Independence Day, reclaim it.

On our 71st Independence Day, we face fake news and overblown outraging - which are distancing us from our own.

A new Independence, and a new partition

On our 71st Independence Day, we face a new narrative of us versus them, which is only leading to echo chambers. We need to listen to each other much more, and push away only words of hate.

Be truly free - Break bonds of history, ties of sentiment

India wriggles miserably between confusions over the West and hazy sentiment about its own past. In the process, it's losing its grip on both. Independence Day should liberate us from this sorry scene.

Independence Day: The well-kept secret about India

India at 71: The well-kept secret about independence

To restrict this to the celebration of a political event is a myopic understanding of what 'independence' is.

Food historians can argue about the origins of the biryani, but there is no denying that if there is one dish that exists in every part of the country today in some form of the other, it is this.

India's most independent dish: How biryani became truly national

Food historians argue about its origins, but this is the one dish that exists across the country today, uniting us all.

For many it has always had a political motif. But there is more to it.

Being independent in today's India

For many Indians, 'índependence' has always had a political ring. But there is so much more to this.

Top thinkers assess how far India has come, at 71, to give us the freedom to be who we are and the best we can be.

india at 71