What's there to celebrate?

Independence Day should be a day for celebration and optimism. But what is there, in 2020, to celebrate?

Independence Day has always been a time for optimism. This is partly because the India story has always been somewhat optimistic ― this was after all a young republic, with great potential. Yet, now that this country is in its 70s, perhaps it is no longer fair to think of it as young. And, certainly, there appears to be less and less optimism and more darkness in how we think of each other and our country’s place in the world.

This has crept upon us slowly over the past decade and some. Even as recently as the decade of the 2000s,