Nehru, contemporary

Hi there,

I traversed a few more pages on the biography on Nehru by Frank Moraes.

It's almost like I know the story fully and hence don't want to rush the reading. Each chapter is worth slowly savouring and contemplating Nehru's vision as it panned out.

I read some recent criticism of Nehru - that it was his penchant for large industries, socialist mindset, and belief in bureaucracy that slowed India's growth in the formative years. It also plunged India into crisis in subsequent years when it was led up the garden path into a debt trap. It is also alleged in some quarters that Nehru's soft handling of Kashmir issue led to an undercurrent of resentment which boiled over years later and the rest has been a slur on history.

It's easy to retrospect and pass judgment on what-might-have-been. However, when one reads the book, one gets an insight into how these thoughts might have formed and indeed they were right in the context in which India was at that time. Non-cooperation and swadeshi movements which were the platforms of reviving the freedom movement in India led to an awakening of the rural masses. Nehru's immediate goals post independence was to provide a platform for these rural masses to feel at par with the urban classes and therein were sown the seeds of a socialist outlook. He also felt immensely at home amongst the rural society, something that one can attribute to only a handful of the current lot of politicians. Kashmir then was not a militant issue which he needed to quell... there was no reason at that time to devote time and resources to address the issue then. Whatever it was, Nehru was too pre-occupied until 1962 to focus on Kashmir in a meaningful way.

I thought I must pay some tribute to Chacha Nehru on his 118th birthday. More after I've been through the full book.. Ciao.