Gungi Gudiya

I am now reading a book on Indira Gandhi by Pupul Jaykar – who was her friend for many years. I have always been fascinated by this lady who was called “Gungi Gudiya” (Dumb Doll) when she first became the Prime Minister in a patriarchal country like India.

From my limited reading on her I knew that she didn’t have a happy secure childhood. Nehru family’s involvement with freedom struggle and the rift between her parents both were responsible for that. But I didn’t know that she didn’t have a planned education either. Contrast this with today’s scenario – any politician worth his/her salt packs off his/her kids abroad to get education in the topmost schools. Any exceptions really prove the rule!

We all have read that Jawaharlal Nehru was born with the proverbial “Silver Spoon”. And yet, at one point, owing to the confiscation of their property and belongings by the British government, this family faced shortage of money. A poor politician sounds like an oxymoron these days, isn’t it? :-)

I remember as kids we used to celebrate children’s day on 14th November. A Prime Minister who loved kids! But my image of “Chacha Nehru” took a severe beating as I read the book. How can a person daring to wear a red rose in his buttonhole treat his wife so callously?

The personality of Kamla Nehru too left me puzzled. Here is a woman who astonished everyone in the family by transforming from a shy, gentle “bahu” to a fierce lady wholeheartedly dedicated to the freedom struggle! And yet she was broken-hearted because her husband didn’t pay her attention. As a woman, I can understand her initial pain and disillusionment but couldn’t she later overcome it with some other purpose in life? Not even a cause as big as the freedom struggle?

You know what Indira Gandhi wanted to do with all her heart before she became actively involved in politics? She wanted to settle down with a husband and kids! She didn’t want a life full of stress and strain. She wanted peace. Does life always deny us what we ardently wish for? There is a saying that goes like “when life says No to what you ask for, it gives you something better”. Was this true in her case as well? Then how do you make sense of her death by assassination? Or was that a price for a better life?

I remember the tagline of a Hindi movie on Mahatma Gandhi – the tragedy of a family was the price of a nation’s freedom. Maybe Jawaharlal Nehru’s family paid that price too.....