Tragedies that strengthened India

If experience is a great teacher, independent India is its most proficient pupil. In the 60 years since the birth of our nation, we have faced devastating natural calamities like floods and droughts which recur almost annually, crises like communal riots and ethnic violence, assassinations, and even a brief period of emergency, when civil rights were revoked. To this, add the perennial problems of poverty and population, and the daily dance of death led by terrorists and secessionists. Yet the essential spirit of India remains unbowed, unbroken. Despite all these problems, we are now well on way to claim our place at the world's top table. As we celebrate our 60th birthday, we bring to you some events which shook us, some which rattled our very foundations, but failed to break us.