Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
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The Inspirational Story of "Jawaharlal Nehru"
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of Independent India. Nehru served the nation for 17 years. He was quite popular among children and they called him Chacha Nehru.
Birth: He was born on 14th November 1889 in Allahabad. He was the son of Swarup Ran (mother), and Motilal Nehru (father). Both his parents were attached and involved with freedom movements.
Childhood: He studied theosophy in his childhood and got into the Theosophical Society at age thirteen. Nehru’s theosophical interests led him to the study of the Buddhist and Hindu scriptures which later culminated in his book “ The Discovery of India”.
Adult Life: In 1912, Nehru enrolled himself as an advocate of the Allahabad High Court and tried to settle down as a barrister but he was not interested in law. Nehru attended an annual session of the Indian National Congress in Patna and joined Indian politics.
Movements: He took an active part in movements like Home Rule Movement, Non-Cooperation Movement, and many more. In 1919, while he was traveling, he heard General Dyer talking about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Dyer mentioned how satisfied he was after that incident. That’s when Nehru decided to get freedom from the Britishers.
His Works: He was sent to jail almost 9 times and there he wrote many books like his autobiography, “Towards Freedom”, “Letters from a father to his daughter”, “ Discovery of India”, “Glimpses of World History” and more. He was the right hand of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian Independence. They were an active part of the Civil Disobedience Movement, Salt Satyagraha, Quit India Movement.
The Journey of First Prime Minister: Nehru became the first Prime Minister of Independent India. Later he worked with Sardar Patel to unify India. In 1950 India became Republic. In 1955, he received the Bharat Ratna for his efforts on Indian industrialization. His attire- the jacket with a rose in the pocket and a Nehru cap is his style statement.
Gandhi and Nehru: Nehru was a progressive thinker. He had always wished for India to become more modern and civilized. There was a distinction between Gandhi’s and Nehru’s ideas. Gandhi and Nehru had opposing views about development. While Gandhi advocated for a more historic India, Nehru advocated for a more contemporary India. He had a strong desire for India to progress.
Children’s Day: Every year on November 14th, India commemorates the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was affectionately known as Chacha Nehru because of his love for kids.
The day highlights the need of showing children love and affection, values that India’s first Prime Minister believed in. As Nehru once stated, today’s children will shape tomorrow’s India. He believed that how we raise children will influence the country’s future.
An excerpt from Nehru’s First Speech, “A Tryst With Destiny”:
"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance...
...The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but so long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over. And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world."
Stay tuned and listen to more episodes of our podcast “Famous Indian Personalities” where we keep bringing stories from the lives of the greatest personalities of India.
