Jawaharlal Nehru: The most elegant politician of India

Lucknow: Jawaharlal Nehru was a great Indian nationalist leader who worked for independence and social reform. He became the first prime minister of independent India, a position he retained until his death. He initiated India's non-alignment policy in foreign affairs.

Life

• Jawaharlal Nehru was born on Nov. 14, 1889, in Allahabad into a Kashmiri Brahmin family.
• The atmosphere in the Nehru's home was more Western than Indian.
• It was a luxurious home, with an impressive stable and two swimming pools.
• Jawaharlal was educated at home by tutors, most of them were English or Scottish.
• At the age of 15 Nehru left for England, where he studied at Harrow and Cambridge and then for the bar in London.
• His English experience reinforced his elegant and cosmopolitan tastes. As Nehru said of himself at Cambridge, "In my likes and dislikes I was perhaps more an Englishman than an Indian."
• In London he was attracted by Fabian ideas, nationalism and socialism.

Early political moves

• Nehru began to practice law with his father. It was not until 1917 that Nehru was stirred by a political issue, the imprisonment of Annie Besant, an Irish theosophist devoted to Indian freedom.
• Nehru became active in the Home Rule League. His involvement in the nationalist movement gradually replaced his legal practice.

• In 1916 Nehru was married to Kamala Kaul, of an orthodox Kashmiri Brahmin family. They had one daughter (late Indira Gandhi, the third prime minister of independent India).

An issue which fired Nehru's Nationalism and led him to join Gandhi was the Amritsar Massacre of 1919, in which around 400 Indians were shot on orders of a British officers.

Nehru became active in the Home Rule League. His involvement in the nationalist movement gradually replaced his legal practice.

Apart from his father and Besant, the greatest influence on Nehru politically was of Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi had been educated much like Nehru but, unlike him, remained basically untouched, essentially Indian. A second issue which fired Nehru's nationalism and led him to join Gandhi was the Amritsar massacre of 1919, in which some 400 Indians were shot on orders of a British officer.

The year 1920 marked Nehru's first contact with the Indian kisan, the peasant majority. Nehru was "filled with shame and sorrow … at the degradation and overwhelming poverty of India." This experience aroused a sympathy for the underdog which characterized many of Nehru's later political moves. The plight of the peasant was a challenge to his socialist convictions, and he attempted to persuade the peasants to organize. From this time on Nehru's concerns were Indian. He began to read the Bhagavad Gita and practiced vegetarianism briefly. Most of his life he practiced yoga daily.

• In 1921 Nehru followed Gandhi in sympathy with the Khilafat cause of the Muslims.
• Nehru was drawn into the first civil disobedience campaign as general secretary of the United Provinces Congress Committee.
• Nehru remarked, "I took to the crowd, and the crowd took to me, and yet I never lost myself in it." Nehru here articulated two of his most distinctive traits throughout his career: his involvement with the people and his lonely detachment.
• The year 1921 also witnessed the first of Nehru's many imprisonments.
• In prison his political philosophy matured, and he said that he learned patience and adaptability. Imprisonment was also a criterion of political success.

Chacha Nehru was a very sound politician. There were many controversies which never let him escaped.Till today there are certain number of stories about him.Lets have a look at Jawaharlal Nehru life story to find out some hidden secrets and affairs

'sshhhh moment'

• Jawaharlal Nehru was born in redlight area of Allahabad.
• He was considered at Demon of the country before his birth.
• Jawaharlal Nehru had relationship with lady Mountbatten.
• He was also in a love with Padamja Naidu.
• Jawaharlal Nehru appointed Padamja Naidu as a Governor of Bengal.
• Jawaharlal Nehu refused to marry Shraddha Mata.
• Nehru was fond of writing love letters.

However these secrets are based on information available on web.