Kamala Nehru
(JAWAHARLAL NEHRU)
The story of Jawaharlal Nehru's (1889-1964) outer life is so well known that it doesn't need retelling. But his innter life- the story of what he thought, what he felt, when in solitude in prison or when he was facing an inner conlfict- must be (and is) more interesting to student of Indian culture. Here was a man who had been living a double life so to say Nehru wo was outwardly a man of action, a socialist, a cosmopolitan and a revolutionary, was at heart a philosopher trying to discover the truth about himself and about his country, constantly worrying about synthesizing his two personalities and integrating the western with the Indian outlook.
In his Discovery of Indian he manages to get a solution to his problem personal and national. Indian culture had the capacity for adaptation and could assimilate different or even opposing strands. Both at the individuals and at the national level he wanted us to cultivate these qualities of openess, tolerance and adaptation and achieve a synthesis of these 'basic eternal principles' with the progressive outlook of the West with its scientific habit of mind.
In this extract where he gives a touching account of his wife's last days and death he also moves back down the path of memory and describes the early days of their married life. In the process of description he rises from the particular to the general, from his personal relationship with his wife to the general problem of human relationships, and in the process Kamala rises from the level of a loving wife and loyal comrade to the level of a symbol of Indian womanhoood.
For a superficial reader the portrait might apperar to be somewhat idealized. But it is essentially true. Kamala, Nehru was a fighter and heroine in her own right besides a gracious and loving wife.
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- Jawahar Lal Nehru
- Human Values
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