As part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore, a book on the Nehru-Gandhi family's connection with Santiniketan is on the cards. It will have unpublished correspondence and rare photographs.
Titled Three Chancellors – since Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, in their capacity as Prime Minister served as Chancellor of Visva-Bharati – the book has been compiled by Nilanjan Bandopadhyay, curator of the university's museum at Santiniketan.
“The idea came to me from a rare photograph, where Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and a two-year-old Rajiv Gandhi are posing in front of one of the houses of Gurudev at Santiniketan. It occurred to me that this distinguished political family had been very intimately associated with the place,” Mr. Bandopadhyay told TheHindu .
Jawaharlal Nehru regarded Tagore as a father figure and wrote to him frequently, particularly after his father's death. Nehru was a regular visitor to Santiniketan, having visited it five times during Tagore's lifetime and 10 times in the decade after his death.
Besides several unpublished letters between Tagore and Nehru, the book will include rare photographs of all members of the Nehru family.
Of particular interest are pictures of Indira Gandhi during her student days at Santiniketan, which Mr. Bandopadhyay obtained by writing to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
“She sent18 pictures, including some of Indira Gandhi serving food out of a large cauldron at a gathering, posing in front of a bullock cart and visiting a terracotta temple nearby,” he said.
A copy of the Desikottan (Vishva Bharati's honorary degree), awarded posthumously to Indira Gandhi and signed by Rajiv Gandhi, during his tenure as Chancellor, was also sent by her, Mr. Bandhopadhyay said.
The design and the layout of the book has been created by eminent artist Jogen Chowdhury. Mr. Bandopadhyay is hopeful of an October release for the book.
