India, Sept. 16 -- September 17, and the building of a new India

September 17 is special as the day resonates with a wide spectrum of people and stakeholders. Based on various ancient Hindu texts, Lord Vishwakarma is said to have been born on this date. As the divine architect and the creator of the universe he is venerated as the ancestor for all artisans. On the same date in 1948, after an agonising wait of 13 months, the princely State of Hyderabad was liberated - after Independence, it had remained under the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, and his militia, the Razakars. India's first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had ordered police action under Operation Polo, and the entire Hyderabad Deccan was liberated on Septem...