What did Jawaharlal Nehru mean in Tryst with Destiny?
Answers
The content was lofty and targeted at the elites [and as a practical matter of fact, only the elites owned radios and subscribed to newspapers]. At that time most elites understood English. On the other hand, many elites in the provinces didn’t understand Hindustani. A large chunk of the Constitution’s drafting committee themselves would have found it hard to understand a Hinduistani speech.
Then comes its sprit/emotion. This is targeted at everyone. You didn’t need to understand the language to get its sprit. The commoners understood the sprit behind Nehru’s call as they were listening to the radio broadcast in one of the few radios in their city. The elite who owned that radio likely gave live translations of the speech to the people nearby and in any case people were too joyous [or too nervous] to worry about what “tryst” means.
Finally, the speech was not addressed to Indians, but the whole world and became one among the famous speeches of the century[1]. English was the right choice.
A new star rises, the star of freedom in the east, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materialises. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed by!