As we count down the final few hours to knowing the contours of India’s next Parliament, it’s hard not to feel anxiety, even trepidation, at the likely outcome. What will the next five years hold for freedom, democracy, social harmony and the rule of law in India? Do the trajectories of the past decade foretell ever worsening conditions for minorities and other marginalised groups? And ever narrower space for civil society? What of independent media, online freedoms, and privacy? Will we see an acceleration in the erosion of the institutions that protect us from untrammelled executive authority? Can we hope that the individuals and institutions who have courageously resisted these trends will survive and live to fight another day?

Regardless of what news tomorrow brings, I am reminded of a 2017 conversation with an African-American friend. Reeling from the 2016 US Presidential election and the early impact of the Trump administration, I asked my friend how he was coping. He answered, quite calmly, that in his reckoning, his grandparents had fought against slavery, his parents had been in the thick of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. This new battle, he said, was his gift, his opportunity to play a role in shaping history.

His words have rung in my ears every time despair and rage have threatened to engulf us. They echo as we reel from the daily onslaught of horror in our news headlines and social media feeds. This truly is our shot at bending the arc of history towards justice – a gift to be treasured as our grandparent's generation did the freedom struggle and our parents’ the Emergency.

Whatever the numbers look like tomorrow, that task remains unaltered. Protecting those who are feeling the brunt of injustice, exclusion and disenfranchisement. Defending our sovereign rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly; to information, to equality before the law, to combat the climate crisis that threatens all progress, and to live in dignity and peace. The damage, wounds and fissures of the past decade and more will take years of work to heal regardless of which party or parties gain power after this election or the next.

Count down if you must — to continuing our collective journey from darkness to light. It truly is our generation’s greatest gift.