August 15, 1947. Time: Midnight. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India had begun his address to the nation from All India Radio, calling the moment a tryst with destiny. After his historic and emotionally charged speech, the entire nation started waiting for the moment when he would unfurl the tri-colour for the first time from the imposing Red Fort. That was the moment each and every Indian was waiting for. And finally it came.
The mood in Delhi, like in others parts of the country, was absolutely joyous and electric. Before the start of Pandit Nehru`s maiden speech and unfurling of flag, there was a breathtaking performance by shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan who kept everyone spellbound. He was very young then. And then camethe moment of truth. In excellent weather conditions, Jawaharlal Nehru first unfurled our national flag to the great delight of the crowd gathered there.
Though television was not there those days, All India Radio was giving a running commentary. In the mild breeze the tri-colour was flying in all its glory. Recalls SA Abdullah, historian, then a student of St. Stephen`s College, "with thousands of people watching, it was a grand moment". That was one moment one can`t describe so easily.
Although no flag should be deemed ordinary, this was indeed a special flag. But the question is where has that historic flag gone? Shockingly nobody knows about it. One thought it could be in Nehru Memorial Museum since many things related toJawaharlal Nehru are kept there. But it is not at there. The museum`s director OP Kejriwal says that they don`t have that particular flag.
But Kejriwal suggests that one should better look for it at the National Museum. Following his advice, one tries there too, only to get a negative answer. But the staffers at the National Museum advise to visit the National Archives as they had seen many flags there. That is some encouragement but shockingly it is not there either. The deputy director of National Archives says they don`t have that flag although they have one that was unfurled by the soldiers who were responsible for the Naval mutiny in Bombay in 1946. There can`t be two opinions about the fact that even this one is equally pious for every Indian.
Naval Mutiny flag
According to another eminent historian Anirudh Despande, those who were at the forefront of Naval Mutiny used to carry three flags, the Congress flag, Muslim League flag and Communist party flag. Naturally, Congress flag is there at the National Archives. But the flag unfurled on the first Independence Day is still untraceable.
Even after drawing a blank from three places an attempt is made with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) - the agency that looks after the arrangements for the Independence Day at the Red Fort grounds - but not a single soul there is ready to speak on the matter. The only answer that their employees have is "We are not aware of that".
There is still one last place to try before one can think of winding up the `search-the-flag mission` and that is the Rashtrapati Bhawan which has many historic things lying in the maalkana. The suggestion is worth trying. When contacted, the lady at the media wing of Rashtrapati Bhawan replies, "The flag is not in Rashtrapti Bhawan". Where could it be?
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