A Toast to the Man who put India center stage as the largest democracy in the world
It’s neither May nor November, yet suddenly Jawarharlal Nehru is being recalled. Perhaps memories triggered by the calumny poured over him and his descendants. Why forget the Other PMs of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri – the short man with a long shadow, Gulzarilal Nanda, I K Gujral, Morarji Desai – first Gujju PM, Charan Singh, V P Singh, Chandrashekhar – once reputed to be in the kitchen cabinet now on the other side of the fence, Deve Gowda – first PM aghast at Davos, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Narasimha Rao—who actually began solid economics reforms and Manmohan Singh? The only names with recall are Indira, Rajiv, and Namo & Co. Nehru was very much a man of his times, when socialism was on its way up. His successors veered towards License Raj, chucked out in phases by Narasimha Rao …. now seeking a new Nom d’Plume. Democratic enough to listen, plead, cajole, bully, bargain to maintain the unity of democratic India, earned Nehru kudos as a le...