On Nehru

Nehru, a thinking man. Speaks with depth on the issues of history, Socialism, Marxism and philosophy of life. The most erudite of our prime ministers so far, by far.  I wonder how intellectual capacity dwindled so much in the descendants. The interview is more about “Nehru-the individual” and he seems to revel in it, and in  his perception (may be true also!) of his value for India (opening exchange). This interview was after 10-11 years after independence, when the euphoria of independence still lingered perhaps, giving country and the man a feeling of inflated self worth; war with China and subsequent defeat were still in the future; the sleaze of politics in a democratic setup hadn’t breached his aura yet.  I feel sad thinking about his last days though. He saw his professed idea of world and life failing him with his own eyes; his chance of creating a very individual legacy as the builder of independent India was severely dented by this failure, pushing him back to the pantheons of freedom fighters for securing a place in history, which was a crowded place. The man was one of those who could project the world as a beautiful place-a romantic (Bajpai could be another one). Such men reach the top of a democratic setup rarely, and only by accident of history. And, always a turbulent aftermath succeeds them, for thoughts can only creat a masque to cover the reality but can not subdue it. A patch turned in to a garden in wilderness is always reclaimed by the jungle once gardener leaves, in his case it happed sooner.