Indira Gandhi - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Indira Nehru was born on 19 November 1917 at the Anand Bhavan in the historically important town of Allahabad, in what was then the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, into the politically influential Nehru family. Indira Gandhi's father was Jawaharlal Nehru and her mother was Kamla Nehru. Her grandfather, Motilal Nehru, was a prominent Indian nationalist leader. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a pivotal figure in the independence movement of India.

Nehru did her pre-schooling at the Modern school in Delhi. She attended primary school in a variety of institutions in India and Europe, including Ecole Internationale in Geneva, Ecole Nouvelle in Bex, St Cecilia's and St Mary's convent schools (both in Allahabad), before graduating from the Pupils' Own School in Poona and Bombay. In 1936, Nehru enrolled at Somerville College, Oxford, University of Oxford in United Kingdom. While preparing for the entrance exam, she suffered a personal tragedy after her mother died from a prolonged battle with tuberculosis in Switzerland. This left her emotionally devastated: she subsequently failed the exam. Despite the setbacks, Gandhi chose to continue studying in England and spent a few months at the Badminton School in Bristol before clearing the Oxford entrance exam in 1937.

During her time in Europe, Nehru was plagued with ill-health and was constantly attended by doctors. She had to make repeated trips to Switzerland to recover, disrupting her studies. She was being treated by the famed Swiss doctor Auguste Rollier in 1940, when the Nazi armies rapidly conquered Europe. Nehru tried to return to England through Portugal but was left stranded for nearly two months. She managed to enter England in early 1941, and from there returned to India without completing her studies at Oxford. She had excelled in history, political science and economics but struggled with her Latin, failing in the subject several times. The Oxford university later conferred on her an honorary degree. In 2010, Oxford further honoured Gandhi by selecting her as one of the ten Oxasians, illustrious Asian graduates from the University of Oxford.

During her stay in the UK, Nehru frequently met her future husband Feroze Gandhi, whom she knew from Allahabad, and who was studying at the London School of Economics. The marriage took place in Allahabad according to Adi Dharm rituals though Feroze belonged to a Parsi family of Gujarat.

In the 1950s, Nehru served her father unofficially as a personal assistant during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India. After her father's death in 1964 she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and became a member of Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

Then Congress Party President K. Kamaraj was instrumental in making Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister after the sudden demise of Shastri. Nehru soon showed an ability to win elections and outmanoeuvre opponents. She introduced more left-wing economic policies and promoted agricultural productivity. She led India as Prime Minister during the decisive victory of East Pakistan over Pakistan in the 1971 war and creation of an independent Bangladesh. She imposed a state of emergency in 1975. Congress Party and Indira Gandhi herself lost the next general election for the first time in 1977. Indira Gandhi led the Congress back to victory in 1980 elections and Gandhi resumed the office of the Prime Minister. In June 1984, under Gandhi's order, the Indian army forcefully entered the Golden Temple, the most sacred Sikh Gurdwara, to remove armed insurgents present inside the temple. She was killed on 31 October 1984 in retaliation for this operation by her bodyguards.