The Oxford India Nehru

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An outstanding personality of twentieth-century Indian history, Jawaharlal Nehru was a pivotal figure in India's independence movement and the country's first Prime Minister. An active politician for most of his life, Nehru was also a renowned writer and scholar.

The Oxford India Nehru, part of the prestigious Oxford India collection, draws from the entire range of Nehru's writings and speeches, and brings together more than 200 letters, articles, book extracts, political statements, prison diary entries, and early personal correspondence. Covering a wide variety of subjects-be it marriage feasts, the annexation of Tibet, monsoon clouds, the Suez Canal, the responsibility of scientists, the betrayal of Czechoslovakia, fundamentals of social behaviour, or honey-the writings reflect the phenomenal range of Nehru's interests and activities.

The first section 'Culture and Society' reveals Nehru's belief that for future progress, knowledge of our past culture and civilization is essential. Nehru's intense admiration for Gandhi and the unique relationship they shared is reflected in the section on Gandhi. 'Congress' and 'Toward Freedom' reveal how closely Congress work and the Independence movement were linked in the struggle for freedom. 'Independent Years' covers seventeen years of Nehru's life as Prime Minister. The section 'India and Beyond' reflects his active involvement in world affairs. While the 'Personal' section provides glimpses of Nehru's private life, the writings in the 'General' section bring out the extraordinary breadth of his interests.

With rare photographs complementing the text, The Oxford India Nehru is a collector's item that will appeal both to readers of Jawaharlal Nehru's writings as also students and scholars of Indian history, literature, and culture.

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), statesman, first Prime Minister of independent India. From 1947 till his death, Nehru oversaw major national programmes of agrarian and land reforms, industrialization, and energy development, including atomic energy. Some of his works like Glimpses of 'World History (1934) and Discovery of India (1946) are acknowledged classics. So far 54 volumes of his writings have been published in the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru series.

Uma Iyengar is founder-editor, The Book Reviews. She was the co-editor of the two-volume The Essential Writings of Jawaharlal Nehru (OUP, 2003).

Preface

Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy and his life have been analysed from every conceivable position by the unbiased scholar and selective ideologue alike. As an anthologist I can only provide a reflection of the man through his works.

Any anthology by its very nature must exclude a great deal of material. Sifting and selecting from the gargantuan corpus of Nehru's written and spoken words is made difficult by the fact that he was an enormously influential participant in the events of his time, as well as insightful observer of the world around him. This is borne out by the variety of themes that he addressed in thought and action, be it marriage feasts, the annexation of Tibet, Agha Khan's bath water, war aims and peace aims, monsoon clouds, Suez Canal, responsibility of scientists, betrayal of Czechoslovakia, fundamentals of social behaviour, world power equilibrium, or honey.

The striking feature of Nehru's communication is a balance between reflection and action, participation and observation. It is perhaps a truism that Nehru was both a historian-albeit a conventional one, to quote Dr Romila Thapar-and a history-maker. But in equal measure, and throughout his life, he was also a great communicator and a lover of words. While often characterized as a man of grand visions or a builder of castles in the air, his attention to, and love of detail was no less significant, whether in matters of governance and economics, or relating to topics as homely as the design of brooms. Two passages quoted below bring out this contrast. The first is from The Discovery of India.

We have to make our own all the achievements of the human race and join up with others in the exciting adventure of man, more exciting today perhaps than the earlier ages, realizing that this has ceased to be governed by national boundaries or old divisions and is common to the race of man everywhere. We have to revive the passion for truth and beauty and freedom which gives meaning to life, and develop afresh that dynamic outlook and spirit of adventure which distinguished those of our race who, in ages past, built our houses on those strong and enduring foundations. Old as we are, with memories stretching back to the early dawns of human history and endeavour, we have to grow young again, in tune with our present time, with the irresistible spirit and joy of youth in the present and its faith in the future.

Prime Minister Nehru wrote regular letters to the Chief Ministers of the states every fortnight till 1960, in 'a unique experiment in political education'. Every topic-national and international-was discussed. It happened that once he was struck by the simplicity of the arrangements made by the Hindustani Talimi Sangh for a conference of 1000 delegates. He comments :

Nehru's range and depth of knowledge, though remarkable, were perhaps not the most important aspect of his communication. In a fundamental sense, his actions were a consequence of reasoned conviction, a thought process that developed over time from a very early stage in his political career. For him :

Many key policies and attitudes that were to characterize Nehru as Prime Minister were conceived of and worked upon at a time when independence seemed distant. Consider, for example, his thoughts as early as 1927 about India's role in the world, and the shape of its society. He wrote in an article from Montana, Switzerland, in September 1927 :

Again, long before independence became a reality, he gave deep thought to the country's economic foundation :

These 'reasoned conviction's in spheres as complex as international relations, politics, and economics, were based on extensive reading, experience, and reflection. They were works-in-progress of a process of thought that he embarked on very early in his career as a public figure. I use the phrase 'works-in-progress' for a specific reason. It would not be true to say that Nehru was an impractical dreamer with no cognizance of reality. He believed there was a natural progression from imagining a desirable state to attaining it and that the world could be changed with persistence to reflect ideals. He did not see the two attitudes-realism and idealism-as being contradictory. In Nehru' words.

Any attempt to understand Nehru's life has to examine how his thinking developed over time and how it affected his action. A simplistic chronological ordering-of his life or his works-would not reflect this, in Norman Cousins' words, 'He was not a man but a procession of men. In him you witnessed a national hero, statesman, philosopher, author, and educator.' With this in mind, the matter has been arranged into eight sections in an attempt to present a composite picture of this complex man in his turbulent times.

For Jawaharlal Nehru knowledge of our past culture and civilization was but a step toward understanding the present reality and progressing forward. This thinking resonates throughout the first section, 'Culture and Society'.

By Nehru's own admittance Gandhi and Motilal Nehru were the two major influences in his life. While Gandhi's religious and traditional approach in the struggle for independence irked him, he had intense admiration and emotional attachment for Gandhi and firmly believed that it was his leadership that would take the country to freedom. Writings and speeches in the section on Gandhi have been chosen to reflect this unique relationship.

Just as Gandhi's and Nehru's roles in the struggle for freedom were intertwined, so also were Congress work and the Independence movement. The Party mirrored the hopes and desires and the urge to freedom of the Indian masses. Nehru drafted in elegant language most of the important Congress resolutions and election manifestos.

In 'Independent Years' the endeavour has been to cover the many activities that were part of his life as Prime Minister for seventeen years. 'India and Beyond' reflects his roles as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, his active involvement in world affairs, while implementing the nonalignment policy which was intended to give primacy to national interests.

A perspective of Nehru's wide range of interests is given in the section, 'General'. The 'Personal' section provides but a glimpse of the man for, beneath the surface, there was always the formal gentleman holding back from displays of private emotion. This self-styled 'practising politician found 'magic in making friends with good books'. What he missed most in jail was children's laughter and women's voices. He was inordinately proud of his good health and took great pleasure in standing upside down, and is said to have received Yehudi Menuhim while doing shirshasana !