9 Inspiring Lines From The Most Epic Speeches In The History Of India

The greatest people always have the greatest of stories to share. Stories that show the path, that inspire young hearts, that light the flame of hope, and all-in-all, that leave the audiences hypnotized. And, following is a list of some of the greatest Indians that have left our elders mesmerized with their powerful words. And, believe me, once you also get to read what these great people have said, you would totally understand the strong love your parents harbour for great speeches.

So here goes,

1. Civilisation’s crisis- Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore very well knew that the best road to people’s heart is the one that is scribbled upon, and his speech ‘Civilisation’s crisis’ is definitely one of the best ones to have struck the right chords. Moreover, the fact that it became his last speech before his death further made it one of the most treasured speeches in the Indian history. Some of the haunting lines from ‘Civilisation’s crisis’ are:

“As I look around I see the crumbling ruins of a proud civilization strewn like a vast heap of futility. And yet I shall not commit the grievous sin of losing faith in Man. I would rather look forward to the opening of a new chapter in his history after the cataclysm is over and the atmosphere rendered clean with the spirit of service and sacrifice. Perhaps that dawn will come from this horizon, from the East where the sun rises. A day will come when unvanquished Man will retrace his path of conquest, despite all barriers, to win back his lost human heritage.”

 

2. “Freedom is our birthright”- Bal Gangadhar Tilak

We love to see kids donned in khaki clothes, yelling out delightedly, “freedom is our birthright.” It makes us feel very much connected to our country and introduces us to that powerful little patriot residing in our hearts. But doesn’t it almost makes sense to wind the clocks back in time and pay respect to the man who delivered this line with as much conviction as a magician would sing spells. Well, the man behind these words was Bal Gangadhar Tilak. When Bal Gangadhar Tilak came out after serving his term in prison, he gave a speech to reinvigorate the feeling of nationalism in brethren. And the speech did quite a magic, a magic that still revives in us the patriotic feeling every time we quote,

“Freedom is my birthright. So long as it is awake within me, I am not old. No weapon can cut this spirit, no fire can burn it, no water can wet it, no wind can dry it.”

 

3. “Quit India Speech”- Mahatma Gandhi

Each and every time Mahatma used to come before the masses, the entire nation would get awestruck by his charming confidence. The confidence that was so infectious, that it not only changed the face of India but inspired many others across the seas to win their own battles. Here is a short excerpt from the Quit India speech, the speech which is considered one of the most important one in the history of India.

“Here is a mantra, a short one, that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The mantra is : ‘Do or Die.’ We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery. Let that be your pledge.”

4. “Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom” – Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

No patriotic speech can ever feel complete unless it concludes with “Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!” It is this anthem that instilled the much-needed aggression in the youth, the aggression to save the prestige of the country during the independence movement. These haunting words were spoken as a part of a motivational speech that Netaji delivered at the Indian National Army rally in Burma, on July 4, 1944. Some of the other best lines from his speech were:

“We should have but one desire today- the desire to die so that India may live- the desire to face a martyr’s death, so that the path to freedom may be paved with the martyr’s blood. Friends! my comrades in the War of Liberation! Today I demand of you one thing, above all. I demand of you blood. It is blood alone that can avenge the blood that the enemy has spilt. It is blood alone that can pay the price of freedom. Give me blood and I promise you freedom.”

 

5. Narayana Murthy’s take on the blend of westernization in contemporary India

It takes an ordinary man with wise beliefs to achieve an extraordinary feat. And the ordinary man who has contributed in extraordinary amounts to our country is Mr. Narayana Murthy. The speech that the tycoon delivered at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management is renowned as one of his most influential speeches of all time. In his speech, he talked about the role of Western beliefs and values in present-day Indian society. Some of the lines from his speech that the youth of today must be aware of are:

“Most of our behaviour comes from greed, lack of self-confidence, lack of confidence in the nation, and lack of respect for the society. To borrow Gandhi’s words: There is enough in this world for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. Let us work towards a society where we would do unto others what we would have others do unto us. Let us all be responsible citizens who make our country a great place to live.”

 

6. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee told how friendship and strength are the two sides of the same coin, the coin called India

My mother tells me tales of her days from the youth, when people in large numbers used to gather around TV sets to hear Atal Bihari Vajpayee speak. And, believe me, the first time I felt interested in watching Lok Sabha debates on TV was when I spotted this man giving his speech. I had no idea of what the whole issue was about. All I knew was that he was teaching the opposite side a lesson through the wittiest and most attention-grabbing kind of word play! The pauses he took to get the words out used to keep me at the edge of my seat, simply because waiting to hear his aura travel out from his mouth, was too hard a thing to do.

Here are some of the best lines from the man himself in Lok Sabha, that he spoke in reference to the nuclear tests at Pokhran.

“We have been the victims of three attacks. This fate should not repeat. We are not getting ready to attack anyone. We don’t have that intention. I was asked about the connection between Pokhran-2 and the Lahore bus service. They are two sides of the same coin – the strength of our defence and the hand of friendship — the hand of friendship through honesty.”

 

7. Go Kiss The World- Subroto Bagchi

“Go Kiss The World” is my personal favourite. Subroto Bagchi delivered this speech before the class of IIM-B in the year 2006. The speeach revolved around the idea of defining success. I will just save some space from my own lines and make more of it for Mr. Subroto Bagchi’s words because they totally deserve to reach out to the entire youth clan around the world.

“Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, Mother had a paralytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital in Bhubaneswar. I flew down from the US where I was serving my second stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the hospital as she remained in a paralytic state. She was neither getting better nor moving on. Eventually I had to return to work. While leaving her behind, I kissed her face. In that paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said,
“Why are you kissing me, go kiss the world.”

Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above the immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is about sensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It is about connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about personal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than you take out of it. It is about creating extraordinary success with ordinary lives.”

 

8. “My Vision For India”- Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Every time I write or hear the word ‘vision,’ my mind wanders off to “My Vision For India,” and Dr. Kalam. Well, such hypnotizing is the aura of this speech. Dr. Kalam is said to have delivered the speech at IIT-Hyderabad, and as the title suggests, the speech outlines the many visions for India that Dr. Kalam wishes that the citizens would join their hands and efforts together to fulfil. And, the following lines are one of the most crucial and thought-provoking parts of his speech.

“Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production.We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan; he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it? “ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY.”

 

9. When Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar cast a spell over the whole of India, and this time not by his bat

Now, these lines are nothing but feelings spoken out loud. They are not very articulate, but they are actual heartbeats translated into words, and so they managed to garner a lot of welled up eyes when the God of Cricket left them free from his heart on 16 November 2013, after finishing off with the very last and a momentous 200th Test match. The millions in India and across the seas were glued to their TV sets, work at offices had suffered a stand-still, and those who were at the stadium to witness the history turning a new leaf, well, just thinking of how they must be feeling at that particular time, is giving me goosebumps.

The poignant excerpt that bore impressions of his feelings read:

“I know I have met so many guys who have fasted for me, prayed for me, done so much for me. Without that life wouldn’t have been like this for me. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and also say that time has flown by rather quickly, but the memories you have left with me will always be with me forever and ever.”

Such powerful were these personalities, and our love for them, that even when they let out just a smooth breeze before microphone, the tiny hairs on our skin rose in attention.

Don’t forget to tell us about your favourite lines from the most famous of Indian personalities.

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