A close look at Nehru’s making of India
Belu Jain Maheshwari

Nehru: The Invention of India
by Shashi Tharoor. Penguin. Rs 295. Pages 261.

SHASHI Tharoor's labour of love on Nehru, one of the most prolifically written about persons, unfolds lucidly and is elegantly crafted. The book relies heavily on already published material; it neither contains new research, nor is it a historical treatise.

The author, however, weaves little known facts (Nehru loved playing games), and myths (regarding his birth) with historical happenings that shaped the contours of the nationalist movement, resulting in the formation of free India.

Nehru: The Invention of India is a highly readable book aimed at a pan Indian, more specifically an international audience (explaining the meaning of his home, Anand Bhawan, as an abode of bliss or describing Nehru's childhood as a classic Lord Fauntleroy upbringing). It is fast paced (except for the last couple of chapters), covering a vast canvas.

It delves deep into Nehru's personality (his generous spirit, his style, brief flairs of temper, impetuosity) and the contradictions in his character are picked out (his anglicised upbringing, his Harrow and Cambridge education, yet his ability to establish an instant rapport with Indian masses. Nehru was an agnostic radical who became an unlikely prot`E9g`E9 of the saintly Mahatma).

This book confirms the words of Badruddin Tyabji about JLN: "Subjectivity still rules the roost, though the great subject himself died in 1964." Nehruvianism is the main theme of the book, but its defining features are viewed from a 21st century perspective, when assumptions about post-colonial nationhood have changed drastically.

Tharoor analyses and interprets Nehru's life and times through the lens of his own sensibilities, describing Nehru's understanding of the British position in 1945-46 as flawed; resignation from the ministries in 1939 catastrophic as that gave space to Jinnah. The author gives his own views on Nehru's economic and foreign policy in detail and with great alacrity.

This is the only major flaw in an otherwise well-crafted work of prose. The book holds its own in a veritable sea of literature on Nehru.

It is never easy to pen a biography on the truly great, especially if the greats belong to the even smaller category of historical figures who wore a halo in their lifetime, but faced scrutiny and criticism subsequently.

Tharoor tries to re-examine Nehru's impact on India and his legacy, producing an insightful tract for our times. There were so many aspects to JLN, each more fascinating than the other.

The classics authored by him during his many sojourns in British Indian jails are discussed. Glimpses of World History (written in the form of letters to his daughter, Indira) is a testament to Nehru's remarkable intellect and humanism. Written over three years, the letters give an insight into human history that inspired the worldview of an uncommon statesman. Discovery of India is a monumental work on Indian nationalism.

Some of his close relationships have been given a new dimension and are treated humanly. JLN's relationship with his father, Motilal Nehru, brings out the latter's love and pride in his only son, in contrast to his relationship with his daughter. If Motilal left an indelible stamp on his son by being a fully engaged and even, an over directive father, Nehru's influence on Indira would be marked by his disengagement to her needs.

Refreshingly, there is no voyeuristic interest in Nehru's escapades. Even his friendship with Edwina Mountbatten is treated with dignity. Stanley Wolpert's remarks on Nehru being a homosexual are dismissed in the face of lack of evidentiary value, but the best is devoted to the relationship between the Mahatma and Nehru. "The Mahatma derived his ethics from God, while Nehru from man, at least from his study of mankind."

Nehru, the visionary, also stands out with his understanding of the future world order, which now has come to pass. He had envisaged the biggest problem of the near future would be American imperialism, even more than British imperialism. "Or it may be that the two join together to create a powerful Anglo-Saxon block."

This is not a eulogy. Tharoor does not build Nehru as a supernatural being. He is critical of his flaws. His Commanding Heights theory gets a thorough drubbing, so does his reliance on the steel frame of India-its bureaucracy. His economic and foreign policies, reliance on public sector, the licence quota raj do not find favour.

Nehru's impact on India, though, goes beyond mere words. It rests on four major pillars-democratic institution building, strong pan-Indian secularism, socialist economics at home and a foreign policy of non-alliance. All of these continue to be the official tenets of the Indian Government. His nationalism was not restrictive. As Nehru wrote about India: "It is a country held together by strong but invisible threads-she is a myth and an idea, a dream and a vision, yet very real and present and pervasive."

Nehru's vision of India was one of pluralism: "Creating a just state by just means." His enduring legacy is India's continuing democracy. When too many institutions are being crushed under the weight of our present-day leadership, Nehru with his beliefs and convictions stands way ahead in stature as a truly great nationalis —a breed becoming rarer by the day.

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