Gayatri Devi
I had no intention of following up on Gayatri Devi's death, for I had known very little about her apart from the constant reference being made to her as one of the world's most beautiful woman and a maharani. When I saw television channels following up on that for a second day, just commented "see because she was royalty and a beautiful woman that channels are still airing the news of her death". That is when my father brought up the subject of her having been a founder member of Rajaji's Swatantara Party. Exactly at that time NDTV announced that it is going to repeat Shekhar Gupta's, Walk the Talk with Maharani Gayatri Devi.
"See, it is Shekhar Gupta's interview and she would definitely talk about Swatantra Party and Rajaji," my father said. "She hated Nehru's democratic socialism, was its critic and supported Rajaji." I found it interesting, for I knew not the keen interest Gayatri Devi had in politics, political thought. So, I sat down and watched the interview. She was so straightforward, clear and knew what she was talking, conscious of her intelligence but not letting it hang on her. It was so nice to see her simply dismiss the question on the hard times the royals faced when Indira Gandhi abolished privy purses. "Nothing changed for us. We brushed our teeth every morning" she quipped.
"It is such rubbish, all that is written is not true". That was about her being in a separate cell in Tihar jail during emergecy because of her strange habits. Kishore Singh in his column notes how her biographer Shanta Rama Rau had troubles with the Maharani and the writer himself had difficulties while working on a book with Gayatri Devi. Even in the interview she was pretty curt when it came to several questions. But I liked the way she handled a couple of them. While we see so many willing to cry on television, the Maharani simply put an end to the question about the early death of her husband and son. There was no emotional display of her mourning for the dead or letting the world know how the most beautiful woman coped with loss of husband, son. Second was the question about JF.Kennedy. Having had the privelege of being the president's guest at White House the interviewer thought it fit to ask her about the charms of JFK on women. She simply retorted, "how do I know". Clearly, she had no interest in getting into a little gossip or small talk.
It seems interesting that she chose to be an opposition MP for 15 years or three terms and not falling into the trap of Jawaharlal Nehru's charms. She did not like the idea of nationalisation or socialist public sector and favoured liberal economics. At the same she did not show any interest in sharing her idea either with Nehru or Indira Gandhi. She also missed the opportunity to glorify herself of having questioned Nehru in the Parliament. Only made a reference to N.G.Ranga and how on his behalf she stood up in the Parliament to question Nehru on the issue of Chinese aggression. "If only you knew what was happening, we would not be in this situtation," is all that she would recall about her question. There was no taking credit for a simple challenge like that to Nehru. Gayatri Devi was pretty sure that her Guinness record still stands - for having won with the widest margin in elections. It seems so remarkable that coming from a royal household that believed in Purdah and a society that followed Purday, the Maharani got drawn into politics, contested on an opposition ticket and winning with a record margin. Sad though, it was to hear her say, "being an MP you cannot do anything to the constituency, that is why I quit elections".
"See, it is Shekhar Gupta's interview and she would definitely talk about Swatantra Party and Rajaji," my father said. "She hated Nehru's democratic socialism, was its critic and supported Rajaji." I found it interesting, for I knew not the keen interest Gayatri Devi had in politics, political thought. So, I sat down and watched the interview. She was so straightforward, clear and knew what she was talking, conscious of her intelligence but not letting it hang on her. It was so nice to see her simply dismiss the question on the hard times the royals faced when Indira Gandhi abolished privy purses. "Nothing changed for us. We brushed our teeth every morning" she quipped.
"It is such rubbish, all that is written is not true". That was about her being in a separate cell in Tihar jail during emergecy because of her strange habits. Kishore Singh in his column notes how her biographer Shanta Rama Rau had troubles with the Maharani and the writer himself had difficulties while working on a book with Gayatri Devi. Even in the interview she was pretty curt when it came to several questions. But I liked the way she handled a couple of them. While we see so many willing to cry on television, the Maharani simply put an end to the question about the early death of her husband and son. There was no emotional display of her mourning for the dead or letting the world know how the most beautiful woman coped with loss of husband, son. Second was the question about JF.Kennedy. Having had the privelege of being the president's guest at White House the interviewer thought it fit to ask her about the charms of JFK on women. She simply retorted, "how do I know". Clearly, she had no interest in getting into a little gossip or small talk.
It seems interesting that she chose to be an opposition MP for 15 years or three terms and not falling into the trap of Jawaharlal Nehru's charms. She did not like the idea of nationalisation or socialist public sector and favoured liberal economics. At the same she did not show any interest in sharing her idea either with Nehru or Indira Gandhi. She also missed the opportunity to glorify herself of having questioned Nehru in the Parliament. Only made a reference to N.G.Ranga and how on his behalf she stood up in the Parliament to question Nehru on the issue of Chinese aggression. "If only you knew what was happening, we would not be in this situtation," is all that she would recall about her question. There was no taking credit for a simple challenge like that to Nehru. Gayatri Devi was pretty sure that her Guinness record still stands - for having won with the widest margin in elections. It seems so remarkable that coming from a royal household that believed in Purdah and a society that followed Purday, the Maharani got drawn into politics, contested on an opposition ticket and winning with a record margin. Sad though, it was to hear her say, "being an MP you cannot do anything to the constituency, that is why I quit elections".
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