The memories of the first Independence Day may have faded, but the power of that magical moment must never be forgotten. - Shashi Tharoor

महान दार्शनिक और भारत के राष्ट्रपति डॉ. सर्वपल्ली राधाकृष्णन ने हिन्दुओं को परिभाषित करते हुए लिखा था — ‘एक साझे इतिहास, साझे साहित्य और साझी सभ्यता वाली विशिष्ट सांस्कृतिक इकाई’।

"With the absorption of each native state, the (East India) company official John Sullivan observed in 1840s: "The little court disappears — the capital decays — trade languishes — the capital decays — the people are impoverished — the Englishman flourishes, and acts like a sponge, drawing up riches from the banks of the Ganges, and squeezing them down upon the banks of the Thames.

I do not look to history to absolve my country of the need to do things right today. I seek to understand the wrongs of yesterday, both to grasp what has brought us to our present reality and to understand the past for itself.