Nehru: The man I admired

May 27, 1964, the day a great statesman of Jawaharlal Nehru's stature passed away, is deeply etched in my memory. At the time, I was officiating as a Captain at Bomdila, NEFA, in charge of an Advance Workshop Detachment. I heard the news on radio and I literally cried.

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I grew up cutting out Nehru's black and white photos from the pages of The Tribune and pasting them in my ruled notebook. I once received a tight slap from my father for cutting the newspaper before he had read it.

In Class X, I was selected to speak on AIR on the topic “Who did more for India — Gandhi or Nehru?” My English teacher wanted me to speak in favour of Gandhi, but I insisted on Nehru. I spoke for three minutes and the broadcast earned me my “My First Professional Fee” (published as Middle in The Tribune) of Rs 16 and 20 paise. The amount was sent to me through money order after a few months.

Nehru was, in my opinion, nobler than his deeds and as such was a victim of his greatness.