AWAKENINGS

Raghavan , who is one of the few living to have heard all the Independence Day Speeches of all the Indian Prime Ministers beginning from Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947, had said: INSPIRING AGENDA FOR INDIA’S GREATNESS. I certainly was one of the few living to have been part of the team which put together the Independence Day speeches of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi in the years 1964-69. I can asseverate with full conviction that this year’s Independence Day speech by Narendra Damodardas Modi is the best that I have heard. Of course, Modi is nonpareil in his oratorical eloquence and in the art and science of effective communication. But speaking this year from the ramparts of the Red Fort he excelled himself in content, diction and delivery – all extemporaneously flowing replete with felicitous expressions and captivating word play.  The only other Indian Prime Minister with whom he stands comparison is Jawaharlal Nehru who too shunned prepared speeches and