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JAWAHARAL NEHRU: The Brahman from Kashmir by Emil Lengyel

JAWAHARAL NEHRU: The Brahman from Kashmir

By

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 1968
Publisher: Watts

An overdrawn but not unfounded biography of the great Indian father-figure, marred by lapses of style that are inseparable from the approach (however incongruous they are together). In one sentence the Nehrus are nearest to God, in another they ""must have had something going for them""; Nehru's mother is always ""the Beauty Queen"" (because of the Indian meaning of her name), Gandhi is always ""the Great Soul,"" Jinnah (whom the author doesn't like) is always ""the Lean One."" Withal, there is a quite thorough examination of the young Nehru growing up between two worlds; reflecting at Harrow on British democracy at home, autocracy in the colonies; returning to Indian and to conflict with his father over accommodation to the status quo. Treated quite fully also is his role vis a vis Gandhi in advancing the fight for Indian independence. However, the sequence of events following the Cripps mission is not made entirely clear, and Nehru's activities as Prime Minister are treated rather cursorily. For these later years, the 1963 Apsler biography is by far the better choice; it is also more judicious all-round, although some readers might enjoy the heightened intimacy here.