The Day Mother raised the Flag

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 22:58:58 +0000

On August 15, at the stroke of midnight, the Indian flag replaced the Union Jack of the British Empire. And millions of Indians went to sleep in a state of excitement. For, they would literally wake up in a free country. Among them was a five-year-old girl called Amrita Rangasami. She lived with four siblings and a young widowed mother, in a bylane of Madras (now Chennai).

Sixty-year-old Amrita, a senior journalist and scholar, remembers the day clearly, as if it were yesterday.

When Grandma challenged British Rule

Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:18:40 +0000

Whenever I go to my ancestral home in Nainital, I never forget to brush my hand across an engraved name-plate and feel the name on it. The name belongs to my great grandfather who used to work for the British Empire. For his loyalty, he was rewarded with the title of ‘Rai Saheb’.

Having worked with the British for years, Rai Saheb gained in wealth and name. And everyone in the household feared him. Well, not exactly. There was one person who dared to defy him: my grandmother. She was his first-born and his favourite.

Indian Independence on Pitara Kids Network

The Day Mother raised the Flag

When Grandma challenged British Rule