The Biography of Famous Personalities of India will tell you about the controversies, the dark sides of a person that you may have never heard of.
Indira Gandhi’s Marriage, First Arrest and India Attaining Independence
Marriage
After Kamala’s death, Indira went to London to learn the classics. Feroze was there too and here the friendship deepened to love. Indira went to Oxford to study Modern History and finally she said ‘yes’ to Feroze Gandhi but one of the stumbling blocks to this marriage was the fact that Feroze Gandhi was not a Hindu but a Parsi.
Jawaharlal Nehru was a bit reluctant in agreeing but Indira Gandhi was a confident and bold woman, one who did not make up her mind in a hurry but once she did, would rarely be swerved from her intentions. In the end, there was no way Jawaharlal was going to hurt the daughter he loved with so much intensity and Indira and Feroze were married on March 16, 1942 on Ramnavmi day.
Her First Arrest
On Aug 8, 1942 Mahatma Gandhi gave a call to the nation to “do or die” for freedom and Congress passed “Quit India” Resolution and almost all the national leaders were arrested. Nehru was arrested at the Fort at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Indira Gandhi’s teens were spent watching both her parents on the political trail, so she developed a sense of nationalism for her country.
From that very moment, it was not for Indira to lead the life of typical Indian bashful brides sheltered by the cloister of marriage. She and her husband were arrested in connection with the Quit India Movement. Indira Gandhi was treated badly during her stay in prison and this hardened her physically and mentally. She was released after thirteen months.
Birth of Children And India Attaining Independence
Her first son, Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20,1944. At that time, Jawaharlal, as usual, was in jail and he was sent a list of about twenty options, from which he, as a head of the family, might choose the name of his first grandson. Jawaharlal chose Rajiv, a Sanskrit word for “Lotus”, Indira added another name: Ratna, meaning “Jewel”. The full name, then, was Rajiv Ratna Gandhi, popularly known only as Rajiv Gandhi.
The Second World War came to an end, and in 1945, the Labour party came to power in Britain. Prime Minister Clement Atlee proclaimed that a Cabinet Mission would visit India to workout proposals for complete freedom. Negotiations with the Cabinet Mission dragged and dragged and finally, by 1946, the British agreed to leave India.
In March 1947, because of growing tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities, the transfer of power took place and Jawaharlal Nehru was installed as interim Prime Minister of India. Though no Congress leader was ready to accept the partitioning of the country, but on Aug.15,1947, India and Pakistan came into existence, San jay Gandhi, Indira’s second son, was born in Dec. 1946 and when India became independent, Mahatma Gandhi told Indira to move over to areas affected by communal riots, Indira did not say no.
She had a small baby with her and it was dangerous but being strong willed lady and very courageous, she moved to the worst hit areas and worked there from morning till evening. She was greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s ways of maintaining rapport with illiterate and simple people. She herself wanted to mingle with the masses of the country. From childhood, she was exposed to intellectuals, poets and powerful activists, but she had an innate desire to meet people, explore the arts and investigate a life of the mind.
This nature helped her in later life when she became leader of the masses as the Prime Minister of India. She worked hard with Gandhiji and other leaders for the restoration of peace after freedom. Speaking on freedom, Indira told in an interview with B.B.C., two decades later that: “It was such a powerful experience that I think I was numb. You know when you go to extreme of pleasure or pain, there is numbness. Freedom was just so big a thing that it could not register, it seemed to fill all of you and all your world.”
Feroze Gandhi and Indira were residing at Lucknow as Feroze was a member of Parliament but after Jawaharlal became Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi moved to Delhi to assist her father. She had to take care of her two children but being a strong willed lady, she managed to look after her husband and two children and also she worked hard as an assistant to the Prime Minister. In this scheme of things, she could even find time for social work. She worked hard for the child welfare and was connected to many committees.