A thousand hearts beating with pride, thousands of feet tapping to patriotic tunes—the sea of humanity in front of Delhi's historic Red Fort was throbbing with patriotic fervour as the nation celebrated its 70th Independence Day.
The crowd erupted with a joyous roar and school children stood on their toes to catch a glimpse as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cavalcade arrived at the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort around half past seven amid a fanfare.
Clad in a white half-sleeved kurta and skin-tight pyjama, complimented with a pink-yellow-maroon turban, Modi looked dapper as he strode to inspect the guard of honour.
He was received by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, junior Defence Minister Subhash Bhamre and Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar.
On the road in front of the fort, paramilitary troopers stood in alert while agile National Security Guard commandos added to the vigil.
Since no vehicles—except for those with stickers issued by Defence Ministry—were allowed in a two km periphery of the venue for security reasons, the public had to walk a considerable distance to reach the Red Fort. But that did not diminish their enthusiasm.
The crowd once again erupted as soon as Modi appeared on the ramparts, though it was muted as compared to the thunderous applause one witnessed two years ago, when Modi delivered his maiden Independence Day speech.
As the Prime Minister unfurled the national flag from the ramparts, overlooking the historic Jain Mandir and Gurudwara Sisganj in the front and the Mughal era Jama Masjid on the left, the booming sound of the ceremonial 21-gun salute filled the air.
The Prime Minister did not look his assertive self for the most part of his speech, which sounded repetitive for the most part.
There were flashes of Modi's free-flowing oratory on occasion, as when he pointed to the analogy between the Upanishads and upagrahs (satellites) and 'Chakradhari Mohan (Lord Krishna) and Charkhadhari Mohan (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi), or when he shamed Pakistan over glorifying terror and mentioned the greetings he received from the people of Balochistan and the Gilgit-Baltistan regions of Pakistan.
As Modi finished his speech, school children and National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets sang the national anthem as the crowds, standing at attention, too joined in the chorus.
Balloons in saffron, white and green filled the sky floating away an unknown destination and carrying the message of the Tricolour—sacrifice, peace and prosperity.
Indian economy highlights from Modi's Independence Day address
Major comments on the Indian economy made by Modi during his Independence Day address to the nation from the Red Fort:
* Be it the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank or the World Economic Forum, they have all declared India to be the best destination for global capital.
* GST is one such tax reform that will help us bring financial stability. One nation, one grid and one price is what we have worked on.
* We are working with the RBI to bring inflation to the 4 per cent, plus-minus 2 per cent range. Under the previous government, the inflation level had crossed the 10 per cent mark, but we did not let it rise above 6 per cent.
* The government had brought down the cost of a Rs 350 LED bulb to Rs 50. We want to distribute 77 crore more LED bulbs.
*Earlier village roads were constructed at the rate of 70-75 km per day. Now we construct 100 km in a day.
* Public sector companies were always seen as ones that make losses. My government succeeded in bringing Air India back to a situation where it is logging operational profits. BSNL has also managed to report operational profit.
* The impossible was made possible by adding 21 crore people in the Jan Dhan Yojana.
* The government was trying to link all government schemes with Aadhaar to avoid leakage.
* Post offices will be converted into payment banks. With the advent of technology post offices are becoming irrelevant and the government is focusing on keeping them relevant.
* The government had decided to complete around 118 projects worth Rs 7.5 lakh crore of previous government which were pending for years.
* Pension for our freedom fighters will be increased by 20 per cent. So those who are receiving Rs 25,000 will now get Rs 30,000.
* It is my dream to double the income of farmers by 2022.
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