Indira Gandhi’s 100th birth anniversary brought to mind an Independence Day in the early 1970s when she paused on the ramparts of the Red Fort after her speech to raise the three customary “Jai Hind” slogans. Just after the vast crowd joined in the refrain there was an earthquake. Fearing that panic may lead to a stampede, the Prime Minister exhorted the crowd to stay calm “as there were several earthquakes to come before India gained its rightful place in the comity of nations.” The appeal had its effect and not a single person moved until she had departed, waving her hand. That was Indira Gandhi’s charisma before the Emergency, some of which was partly restored after her re-election following the collapse of the Janata Government.
One remembers the first meeting with her when she visited Agra in the 1950s as a star of the Congress organisation, sitting in a car with Seth Achal Singh (the local MP) and the grand old man Rajnath Kunzru (“Bare Bhai” to her father). She was very eager to visit Maithan, where her grandfather Moti Lal Nehru was born.
Despite the presence of lathi-armed volunteers, a large number of people surged forward to see her, with some women going so far as touching her and making sure that she was there in flesh and blood. One later saw her soon after Jawaharlal Nehru’s death at Teen Murti House. Sorrow was deeply visible on her face and the rose-like bloom seen on it during the Agra visit was gone, Inspector Bakshi, who was part of her security staff, disclosed that she was taking a lot of time to recover from the shock.
The same thing happened after Sanjay Gandhi’s death, when she found it difficult to maintain her poise in public. Someone revealed that she was seen browsing through Shakespeare’s Hamlet on a number of occasions. The carefree nature of the past had changed, like the time when she was newly-elected PM and a host of women journalists tried to interview her, among them Amita Malik, whom she recognised and said, “Don’t pester me, Amita. Let me eat monkey nuts, I’ve not had them for a long time.” The remark showed her carefree nature.
Once when she visited Maulana Azad’s grave, near the Jama Masjid, a woman got hysterical while the PM passed by the Hare Bhare shrine and started calling down God’s choicest blessings on her. Those around tried to calm her but she went on and on until Gandhi herself bent down and patting her shoulder said, “Theek hai, bahut, bahut shukriya (It’s alright, thanks a lot).” Those words worked like a balm and the woman became quiet. A middle-aged begum, who was escorting Indiraji as a representative of the area, later remarked: “What grace and charm she showed with her head covered at the shrine. Her figure was like that of a fairy and by God (Khuda ki kasam), I could have just gone on watching her.” In the late 1960s when Josh Malihabadi went to meet Indira Gandhi from his suite in Azad Hind Hotel, he was mumbling about what sort of reception he would get. When the noted poet, then settled in Pakistan, came back he was in high spirits. “Kya adab hai” (what grace) he said and went on to add that his friend Nehru would have been proud of her had he been still around.
Candid speech
The night Indiraji and the Congress lost in the general elections, one went up to Daryaganj from Connaught Place to watch the reaction. The morning papers had just been unloaded and the defeat had a benumbing effect on people, who could hardly believe their eyes that she too had lost. When the Janata Government was formed and Indira Gandhi was arrested, there was a long cavalcade of cars following her to Tihar Jail. Thrice she got down from her car and sat on the roadside, causing serious security concerns. During one such stoppage, probably the last, daughter-in-law Maneka Gandhi started shouting, “Indira Gandhi Zindabad” and a whole chorus joined her till Indiraji herself asked them to pipe down. The third time she came back as PM was another memorable occasion when her speech was marked by great candour, even going to the extent of admitting that the Emergency may have been an extreme step which spoilt the party’s public image.
One can vividly recall Oct 31, 1984 when in the morning the PTI ticker in the newsroom came out with a flash: “PM shot at”. Slowly more one-liners followed about her being in a serious condition and taken to AIIMS by Sonia Gandhi – it was much later that another flash came: “Indira Gandhi is dead”.
After that there was a surge of frenzy and what followed was blood and carnage. When things settled down one felt the impact of Rajiv Gandhi’s words, “When a big tree falls, the ground underneath it shakes”. After the emergence of Bangladesh, the then Congress President, D. K. Borooah went so far in his flattery as to proclaim, “Indira is India and India is Indira”, while M.F. Husain painted her as a veritable avatar of Durga Mata herself. She was probably none of these but a gutsy woman who had carved out a permanent niche for herself in modern history. Her nose as long as Cleopatra’s! As Maharani Gayatri Devi once remarked.
