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Nehru: A Biography

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As a young Indian child growing up in America, I heard stories about India's independence movement from my parents. I was told about Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. I had trouble believing that a single individual could have so much impact on the world. After reading, Shashi Tharoor's book, I've changed my mind.

Tharoor's analysis of the intertwining between an individual's biography and the birth of a nation is masterful. The book stays close to its subject, Nehru, but then ventures to link his biography to many of the Indian institutions we now take for granted, including: secularism, democracy, non-alignment, and the country's prowess in science and math. This is a highly readable book and I strongly recommend it to any reader interested in learning about India, its culture, and its first leader.

Some recent reviews in Indian press (www.rediff.com, in particular) convey the impression that Tharoor is a shameless Nehru apologist. This is very unfair in my opinion.

Consider this excerpt: "For most of first five decades since independence, India has pursued an economic policy of subsidizing unproductivity, regulating stagnation, and distributing poverty. Nehru called this socialism". Of course, Tharoor tries to balance his views on why Nehru may have pursued the policies he did. Prominently Nehru's mistrust of big business and western capitalism.

All in all a very readable book. Could have thrown in some photgraphs of the era to make it a good collectible. Unfortunately there are none.

Nehru was a great blend of idealism and 'courage to act' on that idealism. This book provides various examples of Nehru's courage including:
1) When Nehru physically fights a Hindu attacking a Muslim during the riots (shortly after India's independence). When the attacker realizes who it is - he backs away - the story spreads - leading most Muslims to start trusting Nehru over their own communal leaders.
2) Nehru openly and fiercely attacked Mussolini, Nazis and every form of fascism in Europe. He predicted that if the fascists were not stopped - it would lead to a 2nd world war. He also blamed England (Churchill) for having the power to stop these madmen but not doing enough before the start of the war. There are specific examples in this book about the 'its business as usual' attitude of Britain towards the ongoing Nazi brutalities prior to 1939.
3) It seems Nehru was truly blind to any form of discrimination. He adamantly refused to accept any communal division in India - claiming that there was no 'Hindu Indian' or 'Muslim India' - just one united India - regardless of how much ever the British tried to create communal divide.
Talk about ungraceful exits - the British ensured that they made the task of managing a free India (after their departure) a nightmare. They did everything they could to fuel communal tensions (including providing legislature seats based specifically on 'religion'. Granted - Jinnah's contribution to requesting these type of seats was part of the equation - however - the British leadership had the power to not buy into any communal divide.)

While younger generations in India blame Nehru somewhat for his socialist tendencies - and not doing enough - anyone who reads this biography will be convinced that Nehru did more than one man's fair share (he spent over 9 years of his life in jail - and continually courted arrest rather than back down on his stance or withdraw his anti-British statements).

Shashi Tharoor's writing style makes this book flow well - and his touches of humor are brilliant.

For anyone looking for an excellent, fairly brief book on Nehru, this is the one to get. The book moves along quickly, with nice analysis and is quite entertaining to read.

This is an informative, brief and readable history of an individual who has had more impact on post colonial India than any one of the millions who have called India home.
Tharoor neither fawns nor scorns one of the truly great and flawed men of history; a refreshing feat when it comes to charting the life of an Indian aristocrat who took his Cambridge Socialism to millions of Indians, who,it can be argued, was partly, perhaps largely, responsible for India's post war descent into 1990's bankruptcy.
And yet, Tharoor is able to give a balanced view of this great man, his foibles and his strengths, his principles and his example, his leadership and his spirit.
A wonderfully readable, serious yet light introduction to a great man of the last century.