So who is India? On this day? This hour? This moment?

Is she an emerging giant? Or is she a country struggling to fight the problems holding her back? Is she a nation growing just in numbers? Or is she also growing up to become tomorrow’s leader?

Perhaps, we need to define our nation before we try to redefine it. For India has been, and is, constantly changing.

The India that was once bound in chains broke her shackles and changed to become an India who was free and waiting to take the world by storm.

But then this very India, poised to lay claim to her destiny, changed to a nation that turned upon itself. Blinded by anger. Divided by faith. Carved into two.

But even in this war with herself, change remained her closest ally. For this torn, vulnerable India changed once again to become a brave new India. An India who pulled herself together, stood tall and set her eyes firmly on a future full of promise and progress.

And today, she is a nation whose boundaries exist merely in its geography, not its mind or spirit. She is the one being called the next superpower. But she is also the one ready to acknowledge her shortcomings. She celebrates her successes without forgetting her failures. She yearns, works and fights to be better.

And as she changes to a new India each day, we play our part in her transformation. As we have done every day. For 175 years.

The Times of India
Leading change for 175 years.

As we complete 175 years, we don’t just look back at what we have achieved but also look ahead at what we hope to do. We aim to begin an intensive year-long programme of initiatives to mobilize the youth and make changes at the grassroots level. And we prepare to not just write, but shape the story of a better, more powerful India.