Much-loved first PM of India

Time Capsule: Jawaharlal Nehru (Nov 14, 1889-May 27, 1964)

Chandani Chandel

Updated At : 05:52 AM Nov 14, 2024 IST

Jawaharlal Nehru (Nov 14, 1889-May 27, 1964)

In his autobiography, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru mentions an annual event he would look forward to, apart from festivals — his birthday. “My chief grievance was that my birthday came so rarely. Indeed, I tried to start an agitation for more frequent birthdays,” he wrote. Little did he know then that his birthday would be celebrated with fervour by the entire country.

The only son of prosperous parents, Nehru was born on November 14, 1889, to Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer and Swarup Rani Nehru. He writes of himself as a 'spoilt’ child in his autobiography. He was lonely as he had two younger sisters, and though he lived in a big Hindu joint family, his cousins were much older to him.

His ancestors had descended from the high mountains in Kashmir to the rich plains to earn more ‘fame and money’. One of his prominent ancestors, Raj Kaul, gained eminence as a Sanskrit and Persian scholar in Kashmir. The then Mughal emperor, Farrukhsiar, noticed his potential on a visit to Kashmir, and on his insistence, the family migrated to Delhi — the imperial capital — around 1716. A jagir with a house situated on the banks of a canal (nahar) was given to Kaul, hence, originated the surname ‘Nehru’. The jagir vanished over the years.

Nehru’s great-grandfather Lakshmi Narayan Nehru became the first vakil of East India Company at the emperor’s court in Delhi. Jawaharlal's grandfather, Ganga Dhar Nehru, was the ‘kotwal’ of Delhi for a brief stint, before the revolt of 1857.

After the revolt, all papers of the Nehru clan were destroyed and the family moved to Agra, where Jawaharlal's father was born. Nehru’s father, under the tutelage of one of his lawyer brothers, moved with him to Allahabad from Agra. An intelligent man, his father took up the legal practice of his brother Pandit Nand Lal after he died. He earned success, fame and money, changing the way of living of his family, which became more and more westernised.

Born in Allahabad, Jawaharlal admired his father, but was fearful of him. In his childhood, he used to hear from his cousins about the insulting manner of the English people, biases towards them in railway compartments, etc. He began to resent them, though he did not harbour ill will against individual Englishmen. He was brought up by an English governess and most of his father’s friends were Englishmen. When he was 10 years old, the family shifted to a bigger house named ‘Anand Bhawan’, with modern amenities like a swimming pool, a big garden and electric lights, which were a novelty in Allahabad then.

When he was 11, he had an Irish tutor FT Brooks, recommended by the Theosophical Society president and Indian self-rule supporter Annie Besant, who introduced him to reading English books. He would read HG Wells, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain. His tutor also set up a small laboratory for him at home for conducting experiments in elementary physics and chemistry.

In keeping with the United Nations, the Universal Children’s Day was celebrated on November 20. In 1951, VM Kulkarni, an Indian who worked as a United Nations Social Welfare Fellow, got inspired by the Flag Day observed in England on the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II to raise money for ‘Save the Child Fund’. He presented a report recommending that Pandit Nehru's birthday could be marked as Flag Day to collect funds for child welfare in India. Nehru's consent was sought; he did not agree initially, but conceded reluctantly.

In 1954, the day was first celebrated as Children's Day on November 14. More than 50,000 schoolchildren participated in the celebrations at the National Stadium in Delhi. In 1957, November 14 was declared as Children's Day by a special government edict. The Department of Posts and Telegraphs issued three commemorative stamps on the occasion of ‘Bal Din’ as it was commonly known then.

After Nehru’s death in 1964, it was decided that the celebrations would also commemorate his birth anniversary. His fondness and vision for children, youth and scientific temper were reflected in his initiative in establishing pioneer institutions like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and National Institutes of Technology (NITs), which enjoy exceptional credentials to this today.