October 1, 2010

From Indira's diary...


"I have never felt less like dying and.... calm and peace of mind is what prompts me to write what is in the nature of a will. If I die a violent death as some fear and a few are plotting, I know the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassin, not in my dying - for no hate is dark enough to overshadow the extent of my love for my people and my country; no force is strong enough to divert me from my purpose and my endeavour to take this country forward. A poet has written of love - 'how can i feel humble with the wealth of you beside me'. I can say the same of India. I cannot understand how anyone can be an Indian and not be proud - the richness and infinite variety of our composite heritage, the magnificence of the people's spirit, equal to any disaster or burden, firm in their faith.... even in poverty and in hardship"

Nehru wrote about the immutable power of India, insisting that it would always survive. Indira Gandhi and those who came before her, are gone.... For good and ill, they shaped what India has become... But India is much larger than any single person or a single family... Nehru's vision holds true... Like the mountains of Kashmir which Indira loved and from whence her family came, India endures....