”Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance .... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again." - Jawaharlal Nehru (Speech on Indian Independence Day, 1947).

All Government Organisations have a holiday as 15th August is a National holiday . In the capital New Delhi most of the Government Offices are lit up. In all the cities around the country the Flag Hoisting Ceremony is done by politicians belonging to that constituency.