Jawaharlal Nehru
Born: 14 November 1889
Place of Birth: Allahabad
Parents: Motilal Nehru (father) and Swaruprani Thussu (mother)
Spouse: Kamala Nehru
Children: Indira Gandhi
Education: Harrow School, London; Trinity College, Cambridge; Inns of Court School of Law, London
Associations: Indian National Congress
Political Ideology: Nationalism; Socialism; Democracy; Communist influences
Religious Beliefs: Hinduism
Publications: The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, Toward Freedom, Letters from a Father to His Daughter
Deth: 27 May 1964
Memorial: Shantivan, New Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of independent India. He was a member the Congress Party that led the freedom movement against the British rule. He was the chief framer of domestic and international policies during his term as PM between 1947 and 1964. It was under Nehru's supervision that India launched its first Five-Year Plan in 1951. Nehru was one of the architects to steer the nascent nation towards the brilliance envisioned by countless revolutionaries of the Indian Freedom struggle.
Jawaharlal Nehru was born on 14 November 1889 in Allahabad in British India. His father, Motilal Nehru (1861–1931), a wealthy barrister who belonged to the Kashmiri Pandit community,served twice as President of the Indian National Congress during theIndependence Struggle. His mother, Swaruprani Thussu (1868–1938), who came from a well-known Kashmiri Brahmin family settled in Lahore,was Motilal's second wife, the first having died in child birth. Jawaharlal was the eldest of three children, two of whom were girls. The elder sister, Vijaya Lakshmi, later became the first female president of the United Nations General Assembly.The youngest sister,Krishna Hutheesing, became a noted writer and authored several books on her brother.
Nehru described his childhood as a "sheltered and uneventful one". He grew up in an atmosphere of privilege at wealthy homes including a palatial estate called the Anand Bhavan. His father had him educated at home by private governesses and tutors.Under the influence of a tutor, Ferdinand T. Brooks, he became interested in science and theosophy.He was subsequently initiated into the Theosophical Societyat age thirteen by family friend Annie Besant. However, his interest in theosophy did not prove to be enduring and he left the society shortly after Brooks departed as his tutor.He wrote: "for nearly three years was with me and in many ways he influenced me greatly".
Nehru's theosophical interests had induced him to the study of the Buddhistand Hindu scriptures.According toBal Ram Nanda, these scriptures were Nehru's "first introduction to the religious and cultural heritage of .... provided Nehru the initial impulse for long intellectual quest which culminated...in The Discovery of India."
Nehru became an ardent nationalist during his youth. The Second Boer Warand the Russo-Japanese War intensified his feelings. About the latter he wrote, "Japanese victories stirred up my enthusiasm ... Nationalistic ideas filled my mind ... I mused of Indian freedom and Asiatic freedom from the thraldom of Europe."Later when he had begun his institutional schooling in 1905 at Harrow, a leading school in England, he was greatly influenced by G. M. Trevelyan's Garibaldi books, which he had received as prizes for academic merit.He viewed Garibaldi as a revolutionary hero. He wrote: "Visions of similar deeds in India came before, of gallant fight for freedom and in my mind India and Italy got strangely mixed together."
Nehru went to Trinity College, Cambridge in October 1907 and graduated with an honours degree innatural science in 1910.During this period, he also studied politics, economics, history and literature desultorily. Writings of Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, J.M. Keynes, Bertrand Russell,Lowes Dickinson and Meredith Townsend moulded much of his political and economic thinking.
After completing his degree in 1910, Nehru moved to London and studied law at Inner temple InnDuring this time, he continued to study the scholars of the Fabian Society including Beatrice Webb.He was called to the Bar in 1912,
After returning to India in August 1912, Nehru enrolled himself as an advocate of the Allahabad High Court and tried to settle down as a barrister. But, unlike his father, he had only a desultory interest in his profession and did not relish either the practice of law or the company of lawyers. He wrote: "Decidedly the atmosphere was not intellectually stimulating and a sense of the utter insipidity of life grew upon me." His involvement in nationalist politics would gradually replace his legal practice in the coming years.
Political Career
Role in Freedom StruggleAlthough he dabbled in political affairs since his return to India, by participating in Indian National Congress’ sessions and in Besant’s Home Rule Movement, Nehru whole heartedly embraced a political career only in 1919 in the wake of the Jallianwallah bagh Massacre. He followed Gandhi’s directives and was imprisoned for participating in the first civil disobedience campaign as general secretary of the United Provinces Congress Committee in 1921. His time in jail helped him achieve a deeper understanding of the Gandhian philosophy and the nuances of the non-cooperation movement. He was moved by Gandhi's approach of dealing with caste and "untouchability".
With time, Nehru emerged as a popular and influential nationalist leader, particularly in Northern India. He was elected as the president of the Allahabad municipal corporation in 1920.
His loyalty to Congress remained unwavering in the face of the rift created in the party due to Gandhi’s decision to adjourn the Non-cooperation movement post Chauri Chaura incident. He refused to move to the Swaraj Party established by his father and Chittaranjan Das in 1922.
Jawaharlal Nehru travelled to European nations like Germany, France and the Soviet Union in 1926 with his family and sought meetings with several Communists, Socialists, and radical leaders from Asia and Africa. Nehru was also impressed with the economic system of the communist Soviet Union and wished to apply the same in his own country. In 1927, he became a member of the League against Imperialism created in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium.
During the Guwahati Session of the Congress in 1928, Mahatma Gandhi announced that the Congress would launch a massive movement if the British did not grant dominion status to India within the next two years. It was believed that under the pressure of Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose, the deadline was reduced to one year. Jawaharlal Nehru criticized the famous "Nehru Report" prepared by his father Motilal Nehru in 1928 that favored the concept of a "dominion status for India within the British rule".
In 1930 Mahatma Gandhi supported the name of Nehru as the next president of the Congress. The decision was also an attempt to abate the intensity of "communism" in the Congress. The same year, Nehru was arrested for the violation of the Salt Law.
In 1936, Nehru was re-elected as the president of the Indian National Congress. Sources suggest that a heated argument between the old and young leaders took place in the Lucknow Session of the party. The young and "new-gen" leaders of the party had advocated for an ideology, based on the concepts of Socialism.
In the 1942 Quit India Movement, Nehru vehemently rallied for ‘Purna Swaraj ‘or complete political independence for India. He was arrested on August 8 of the same year and was imprisoned till June 15, 1945. Post his release, he threw himself into a series of rigorous discussions and negotiations with the British Government that ultimately led to attainment of freedom in 1947. Nehru fought hard against the proposed partitioning of the country by the last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten. He failed to obtain enough support from Mohammed Jinnah, the leader of Muslim League and reluctantly gave in to it.
On August 15, 1947, a free India was born. Nehru was elected as the first Prime Minister of independent India. He was the first PM to hoist the national flag and make his iconic speech "Tryst with Destiny" from the ramparts of the Lal Quila (Red Fort). The time had come to implement his ideas and build a healthy nation. Nehru’s stint as PM of India is characterised by is secular and liberalist approach. He carried out his vision to carry the young India towards the road of technological and scientific excellence with great zeal. He implemented a number of socio-economic reforms and paved the way for rapid industrialization. In the year 1949, Jawaharlal Nehru made his first visit to the United States, seeking a solution to India's urgent food shortage. In 1951, Jawaharlal Nehru launched the country's "First Five-Year Plan" emphasizing on the increase in the agricultural output.
In 1928, after years of struggle on behalf of Indian emancipation, Jawaharlal Nehru was named president of the Indian National Congress. (In fact, hoping that Nehru would attract India's youth to the party, Mahatma Gandhi had engineered Nehru's rise.) The next year, Nehru led the historic session at Lahore that proclaimed complete independence as India's political goal. November 1930 saw the start of the Round Table Conferences, which convened in London and hosted British and Indian officials working toward a plan of eventual independence.
After his father's death in 1931, Nehru became more embedded in the workings of the Congress Party and became closer to Gandhi, attending the signing of the Gandhi-Irwin pact. Signed in March 1931 by Gandhi and the British viceroy Lord Irwin, the pact declared a truce between the British and India's independence movement. The British agreed to free all political prisoners and Gandhi agreed to end the civil disobedience movement he had been coordinating for years.
Unfortunately, the pact did not instantly usher in a peaceful climate in British-controlled India, and both Nehru and Gandhi were jailed in early 1932 on charges of attempting to mount another civil disobedience movement. Neither man attended the third Round Table Conference. (Gandhi was jailed soon after his return as the sole Indian representative attending the second Round Table Conference.) The third and final conference did, however, result in the Government of India Act of 1935, giving the Indian provinces a system of autonomous government in which elections would be held to name provincial leaders. By the time the 1935 act was signed into law, Indians began to see Nehru as natural heir to Gandhi, who didn’t designate Nehru as his political successor until the early 1940s. Gandhi said in January 1941, "[Jawaharlal Nehru and I] had differences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that ... Jawaharlal will be my successor."
In 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru suffered a stroke and a heart attack. On 27 May 1964, Nehru passed away. Nehru was cremated at the Shantivana on the banks of the Yamuna River, Delhi.
Why Is Children's Day Celebrated On November 14?Prior to Pandit Nehru's death in 1964, India celebrated Children's Day on 20 November, which was observed as the universal Children's Day by the United Nations.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once said "The children of today will make the India of tomorrow."
Children's Day is celebrated on the 14th of November in India as a tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru, who was born on November 14, 1889. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was fondly called Chacha Nehru or simply Chachaji, was known for his love for children. On this day, chocolates and gifts are often distributed among children, while schools organize different events such as debates, and music and dance performances.
It is also a common practice to distribute gifts like clothes, toys and books to orphan children on this day.
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"Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit."
"Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you is determinism; the way you play it is free will."
"Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles."
The only alternative to coexistence is codestruction."
Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves."
"Ignorance is always afraid of change."
"Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes."
"The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all."
"Citizenship consists in the service of the country."
"Every little thing counts in a crisis."
"Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse."
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"Obviously, the highest type of efficiency is that which can utilize existing material to the best advantage."
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"A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action."
"A theory must be tempered with reality."
"Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends."
"There is perhaps nothing so bad and so dangerous in life as fear."
"The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds."
:The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer."
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