By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi : The seeds of leadership were sown in late prime minister Indira Gandhi during her years at Santiniketan, the institution founded in West Bengal by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, says her biographer and senior columnist Uma Vasudev.
It happened “when she became a head girl” at Santiniketan, Vasudev told IANS.
She was also deeply influenced by the philosophy of Tagore during her days at Santiniketan, said the writer who has authored a new biography of Indira Gandhi that comes ahead of her birth anniversary Nov 19.
“Not much has been written about Indira Gandhi’s love for art and culture. She learnt Manipuri dance while in Santiniketan and was about to take part in a dance performance… when she left the institute to accompany her ailing mother to Europe,” Vasudev told IANS.
The years preceding her tenure at Tagore’s school saw her at the forefront of the Vanara Sena, a children’s outfit which was involved in the struggle for independence, Vasudev said.
The book, “Indira Gandhi: Revolution in Restraint (Volume 1: 1917-1971)”, published by Shubhi Publications, was released by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Nov 14. It is Vasudev’s third political biography of Indira Gandhi.
“As early as 1929, when the country was seething with suppressed excitement and talk of civil disobedience was in the air, she wanted to become a member of the Congress party. But being only 12, her request was turned down and she was advised to wait until she was 18 or 21. She was infuriated and vowed to have an organisation of her own,” Vasudev said.
Gandhi initiated the famous Vanar Sena, or the monkey army, in Allahabad as a sort of children’s army of Congress helpers which ultimately had 6,000 members with branches in Kolkata (Calcutta) and Mumbai, the writer said.
The former prime minister was very “fond of reading, Western music and the ballet”, Vasudev said.
“She once went to a Western music concert abroad and wrote in detail about how she reacted to the music,” the biographer recalled.
The writer said “Gandhi’s flair for aesthetic was reflected in her impeccable attire”.
“She usually wore a sari of the region she visited to connect to the local residents. She would always dress according to the occasion. When she went abroad she was careful about the way she dressed…she was especially concerned about her hair which was immaculately coiffed,” Vasudev said.
Gandhi had an eye for unusual textiles and clothes, the writer said.
Her strength was her warmth and her instant connect to women. “I did not feel that I was talking to a prime minister…I could talk to her about anything, it was like talking to a friend,” Vasudev reminisced about her first meeting with Indira Gandhi.
“Just after Nehru’s death in 1964, I got this letter from New York from John Day -Nehru’s publisher – saying I had to do a quickie (biography) on Indira Gandhi in three months. I was flabbergasted…It was always Nehru on my mind,” Vasudev said.
The writer, who was married to an Indian Administrative Service officer in Madhya Pradesh, said she rushed back to Delhi and approached former minister Natwar Singh for an appointment with Indira Gandhi.
“Natwar was a good friend…and Indira Gandhi said ok. It was election time and I said I would like to go on an election tour with her.”
On the tour of Rajasthan, the former prime minister one day summoned Vasudev for an audience at 6.30 a.m.
It flagged off Vasudev’s quick biography of Indira Gandhi.
“She was so full of vitality…and she had a way of dealing with the crowd. She had seen her father and grandfather do that…the family affluence did not touch her,” Vasudev said.
The book is divided into four sections – life, power, leadership and image – which chronicles the different phases of her life till 1971.
Recalling her relationship with husband Feroze Gandhi, Vasudev said, “Feroze resented the fact that politics kept Indira away from him.”
“He wanted a normal family,” she said.
Vasudev said, “Feroze was very close to Kamala Nehru and wanted to marry Indira when he was in his teens”.
“Kamala asked him to wait saying he was too young,” Vasudev said.
“He followed Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira to Europe when Kamala Nehru was ailing. After Kamala Nehru’s death, Feroze and Indira spent a few years together in London. There is a lovely letter which Indira wrote after Feroze Gandhi’s death,” Vasudev said.
Vasudev is working on a second volume about the former prime minister’s later years from a “historical perspective”.
(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at [email protected])