Now in print: an act that shocked Radhakrishnan but left Nehru unmoved
Another volume on Nehrus correspondence out,series nearly complete.
In 1958,Vice President S Radhakrishnan asked his attendant described as a chaprasi to ask Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehrus secretary to request the PM to meet Radhakrishnan in his chamber. The messenger,however,chose to relay this to Nehru directly.
Radhakrishnan was appalled and wrote to Nehru,regretting what had happened. On August 26,1958,Nehru wrote back to Radhakrishnan,asking him not to worry about minor matters.
The reply is included in the latest volume of The Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru,out last week. Volume 43 of the second series on Nehrus papers,official correspondence and written notes,it covers the period till August 31,1958. With the most prolific and productive period of Nehrus years covered in the volumes released so far,the compilation will be concluded shortly.
Other than papers dealing with official correspondence,the volumes cover notes and replies on the more mundane,even if important,matters of state and Nehrus other interactions and engagements. The letter to Radhakrishnan,for instance,reveals how public figures then used to deal with each other.
Nehru writes,It is true that the chaprasi came to me. But what is wrong in this? In fact,it was the quickest way of reaching me. It never struck me that something unusual had happened. Please do not worry about these minor matters.
Senior journalist Suman Dubey of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund,which is bringing out the volumes,says: As a teenager,I used to watch Pandit Nehru go to work from his home,Teen Murti,simply being driven in a baby Ambassador,the first Indian car to be made,with one person other than the driver as simple as that.
Minister Jairam Ramesh,who has spent time reading Nehrus correspondence and knows the contents of these works from memory,cites Nehrus writings on a whole range of subjects,from Amrita Shergills paintings being stored in an unsuitable manner,the Mayor of Hiroshima commiserating on the horrors of nuclear weapons,to a discussion with the Secretary Mines,who was also the president of the Indian Mountaineering Association,on the perils of a trek around Amarnath,near Zojila,which he had undertaken in 1916 but slipped,after which he had to be pulled up with a rope.
Reading his selected works is an education,revelation and inspiration. How the man found the time to deal with such a wide variety of issues is simply amazing, Ramesh says.
Historian Prof Aditya Mukherjee,who has co-edited this volume,says,In contrast to present leaders,Nehru constantly voiced his feelings and his thoughts about the problems facing the country.
An officer working in a high office,and dealing with correspondence between VIPs,says that despite more informal means of contact like the telephone and email or cellphone,things are much more rigid today.
A chaprasi and even senior people in the complex heirarchy that has evolved,can no longer break the cordon and access people in high offices. Access is a closely held monopoly. And letters these days are either routine or thank you notes.
The first of the two-series Selected Works of Nehru kick off with his letters in 1903 to his family and his mother,mostly. That series ends with 1946. The second series will cover the years 1946 to 1964.
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