Nehruvian spirit kept things going

DC Sharma

My admiration for Jawaharlal Nehru is not baseless. His ideology shaped my life and career. As a child, I used to be shy. I could not utter a single word before others. So, my father would encourage me to participate in school functions. He would prepare poems about the speeches of Nehru, encouraging me to recite them during school functions. Independence Day, Children’s Day and Republic Day would provide me with an opportunity to show my eloquence, as if Nehru was speaking on the school stage.

During Class X, I started reading Nehru’s letters written to his daughter. This not only broadened my knowledge but also made me a popular participant, winning praise and prizes. Playing different roles on the stage, we students would present skits and one-act plays based on patriotism. Our teacher would make me wear the Nehru cap to portray the character of a freedom fighter.

The same year, Nehru passed away on May 27, 1964. As a mark of respect, our school was closed for three days. His funeral procession in New Delhi was relayed on radio. Like many others, we, too, had no radio. We were hard-pressed for money as my family had shifted to a new house that my father, a farmer, had built with his small savings. Our old house was given to a patwari without charging any rent. Those days, a patwari was treated as an official of eminence in a village. He alone had a radio of his own. The patwari was shedding tears listening to the news about Nehru’s funeral. I learnt that people respect those who do a good work for the nation.

When school reopened, our English teacher Manjinder Singh Sodhi, as usual, only talked business. He told us to prepare an essay on Nehru. In those days, the PU would conduct Class X exam in morning and evening shifts. If one essay was asked in the morning, another would be there in the evening shift. Our teacher dictated to us an essay on Nehru and the other on Lal Bahadur Shastri. I easily mugged up the essay on Nehru.

And lo, the essay on Nehru came in the morning exam! With the Nehruvian spirit, I wrote the grammar portion, too, rather well. My score in English paper was 138 out of 150. The same spirit made me work harder and I opted for postgraduation in English.

The same boy who could not utter a single word before others thus began teaching senior classes, got promoted as HoD English, and worked with grandeur for 32 years at a college in Kangra.

Yes, Nehru’s death had taught that boy to keep going ahead. A slip bearing these lines of Robert Frost was found from under his pillow: The woods are lovely, dark and deep/ But I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep...

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