Book Description
Before Freedom- Nehru’s Letters to His Sister 1909-1947
Editorial Review
‘On purpose I wrote to Indu and asked her what she wanted to be – a doctor, engineer or what else? It was a very prosaic question meant to draw her down from the clouds. Of course I received no answer. There can be no definite answer. She cannot and none of us can at this stage say what she can or will do. But I am quite clear that nothing that is worthwhile can be done in the clouds! She will have to come down and if she does not do so early she will do so late and then the process is more painful.’
Jawaharlal Nehru to Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit Dehradun Jail, 6 March 1933
Written over a period of thirty-eight years – from 1909 to 1947 – this collection of letters between Jawaharlal Nehru and his sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit is significant as much for its historical content as for its literary value. The letters reveal the joys and trials of a family immersed in the struggle for India’s independence. They are also a living testimony of the resilience and strength that won India her freedom.
The letters included in this book have been divided into seven sections – each with its own distinctive flavour of life in and out of prison. Whereas in the first section the note of warmth and affection between a brother and his younger sister is almost palpable, the later sections depict the man who was to become the country’s first prime minister in a variety of other roles – as a husband, father and statesman. In all this, one cannot but appreciate the lucid insight, skilled prose and logic of Nehru whether he is writing to his sister after her husband’s demise, expressing his views on global issues, or expostulating on the interpretation of the nude.
ABOUT THE EDITOR AND COMPLIER:
Nayantara Sahgal is a novelist and political commentator who has published nine novels and seven works of non-fiction.
She is the daughter of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. She has been the recipient of several prestigious prizes such
as the Sinclair Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Eurasia) and the Sahitya Akademi Award. She has been vice president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties; a member of the Sahitya Akademi’s Advisory Board for English until she resigned during the Emergency; a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre and the Bunting Institute, USA; and has served on the jury of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, as head of Eurasia. In 1990 she was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1997 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for Literature by the University of Leeds.
