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Raghavendra Rao

This picture of Indira Gandhi, taken at the AICC session of 1962, raising a point with senior Congress leaders like Kamaraj and C. Subramaniam, is an indicator of the times to come.

"That the outer man is a picture of the inner, and the face an expression and revelation of the whole character, is a presumption likely enough in itself, and therefore a safe one to go on..."

— Schopenhauer

We often talk of the Nehru era, his role in nation building and international relationship. His erudition, charm, scholarship and vision have been rarely equalled to date. Those were the times when the All India Congress sessions meant so much to the party and the people.

Blue prints for the country's development were made during these sessions and party issues thrashed out. Nehru was a dreamer and a thinker, and everyone looked up to him. But his last few years were clouded in a bit of uncertainty. Could it be because of the sour relationship with China?

The 1962 AICC session at Bhubaneswar, that was presided over by Kamaraj, remains vivid in my memory. We saw a pale and tired Nehru getting down from the helicopter, and not the ever smiling, energetic and brisk Nehru. He had to be assisted in getting down from the copter and it was a disinterested leader taking the guard of honour by the youth of the Congress. The only time he had a smile was when he saw a big group of children waiting to see their Chacha Nehru.

Bhubaneswar was all decked up and the then Chief Minister Biju Patnaik had made elaborate arrangements to host the session. In fact, a whole new colony had come up for VIPs, delegates and the press. Kamaraj, the simple man that he was, and the author of the `Kamaraj Plan' — a plan meant to strengthen the Congress party — was a much wanted, admired man in the party.

It was a very quiet Nehru at the Session. There was a far away look in his eyes and one wondered whether he was listening to the proceedings of the meeting. Once in a while either his daughter Indira or Krishna Menon would walk up to him. To all those gathered at the AICC session, Nehru's silence was a surprise and a cause for worry.

And then on the second day of the meeting, just before the lunch session ended, we saw Nehru struggling to get up from the dais. In rushed Indira and Menon to help him and the next moment he was being rushed to Raj Bhavan. The news soon broke out that Nehru had a mild stroke.

A big silence descended on the AICC proceedings. The same night Nehru was taken away to Delhi.

The news after a day that Nehru was feeling a little better brought much needed cheer to the session and the work slowly gathered momentum. Call it the future India but we could see and sense the emergence of a new power at that session.

All the greats of the Congress were there but it was the young Indira who was in dominance. The dreamer's daughter, in a way even then, looked set to take charge of the destiny of the country. History now tells us that it was just a matter of time.

The picture of Indira Gandhi raising a point with the top leaders of the day like Kamaraj and C. Subramaniam then in 1962... perhaps pointed to the kind of leadership and the times this country would face...

Tryst with destiny. May be we should forget certain chapters that unfolded later under her leadership. By and large a good person but perhaps mislead by a handful.

And what an end. Blue star should not have been there in the sky.

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