As we celebrate #India's 74th #IndependenceDay,here's a Tryst with Trivia thr 7+4=11facts+Bonus #DidYouKnow the astrology behind the date 15th Aug 1947,why Gandhi was absent in the 1st celebrations or that Petrol was just 30p in 1947?
Checkout now
#HappyIndependenceDayIndia

1.The exact reason for choosing 15th August is not entirely known,(some say Mountbatten himself chose it to commemorate the surrender of Japan & End of World War-2)it was deemed inauspicious by Indian astrologers.Mountbatten was hellbent on not shifting the dates
#IndependenceDay

Hence midnight was chosen as a midddle ground.The astrologers fixed a 48 min window time(11:51pm to 12:39am)within which Nehru had to finish his speech,followed by blowing of the holy conch(Shanka) to herald the birth of a new nation at exactly 00:00.
#IndependenceDay2020
#happy

2. On the night of 14th Aug,speeches were given by only 3 members(Nehru,S.Radhakrishnan & C.Khaliquzzaman representative of Indian Muslims).Sucheta Kriplani sang #VandeMataram at the start & SaareJahanSe & JanaGanMan at the end(coz the National Anthem wasn't decided till then)

3. Close to 5 lakh people had gathered during the official celebrations in New Delhi(despite light rainfalls)including guests like Ustad Bismilaah Khan.A notable absentee was Mahatma Gandhi- who chose to fast at Bengal against the partition riots
#HappyIndependenceDay2020

4. #DidYouKnow that atleast 2 movies were playing on in the theatres on 15th Aug 1947,which coincidentally happened to be a Friday- Shehnai & Mera Geet. #FunFact Shehnai starred Kishore Kumar as a Police inspector.

5. #DidYouKnow you could buy 1 L Petrol at 27 paise(0.27 Rs),10g Gold at Rs. 88.62 & a plane ticket frm Bombay to Delhi at Rs 140 in 1947?
Also $1 was equivalent to Rs 3.30 ! Here's the price list of some more essential commodities in 1947
#HappyIndependencedayIndia
#Independence

6. Everyone knows partition was a tumultuous affair filled with riots & bloodshed.But #DidYouKnow that non-living things also had to bear the brunt of it?Govt.assets including books,chairs,tables,encyclopedias and dictionaries were divided & in some cases even ripped into halves!

7. #DidYouKnow that the initial currency of Pakistan was created by stamping 'Pakistan' on Indian rupee notes?In 1947, there was only one press on the sub-continent capable of printing postage stamps and currency & luckily it was in Nashik,India.
#happyindependencedayIndia

8. Here's a list of celebs who are born on 15th Aug(not 1947)

Sri Aurobindo
Pran(creator of Chacha Chaudhry)
Rakhee Gulzar
Adnan Sami

Ben Affleck
Jennifer Lawrence

Protagonist of Salman Rushdie's book-Midnight's Children

@AdnanSamiLive @BenAffleck #HappyIndependenceDayIndia

9. India has played 5 matches (All test matches) on/during 15th Aug & is yet to win one !

Lost to Eng by 9 wickets1936
Match drawn against Eng in 1952
Lost to Sri Lanka by 10 wkts in 2001
Lost to Eng by an innings and 244 runs in 2014
Lost to SL by 63 runs in 2011
@bhogleharsha

10. #DidYouKnow that it's not only India's Independence Day today? India shares her Independence Day with 5 other countries-
Republic of Congo
North Korea
South Korea
Bahrain
Liechtenstein

#FunFact Aug 15 is only holiday celebrated both in &

#IndependenceDayIndia

11. #DidYouKnow that the tricolour was first unfurled at the Red Fort not on August 15 but on Aug 16 in 1947? Here's the stats on how many times a Prime Minister has hoisted at Red Fort
Jawahar Lal Nehru 17
Indira Gandhi 11
Manmohan Singh 10
Gulzari Lal Nanda & Chandrasekhar-0

Narendra Modi 8* (once during 75th anniversary of Azad Hind Govt.)

In 10th Independence Day- Nehru 25th Independence Day -Indira Gandhi
50th Independence Day - IK Gujral
70th Independence Day - Narendra Modi

Don't ask the calculation! https://www.rvcj.com/indias-70th-independence-day-71st-media-outlets-divided-heres-answer/

Bonus Fact -
During the Partition of India, Mohammad Ali Jinnah didn't show any interest initially over the name India(based on Indus which flows largely in Pakistan)But JLNehru had already made a demand for it from Mountbatten, which was fulfilled, thus enraging Jinnah.
#India

Also since the partition of India by Cyril Radcliffe (who btw had never been to India before) was not finalized until 17th Aug 1947,most people in Bengal & Punjab were not sure whether they were in India or Pakistan!
#HappyIndependenceDayIndia
#IndependenceDayIndia2020
#India