How Nehru saved Indian Cricket, and his strange friendship with a critic | #29
Also, a rapper named after India's first PM!
“Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.”
Jawaharlal Nehru once made this statement and this rings true even today many decades later. He was India’s first Prime Minister, an architect of modern India and also a lover of fun facts [citation needed]. In celebration of his birthday aka Children’s Day, here’s a Nehruvian newsletter edition for you.
Speaking of fun facts and modern India - have you registered for our Bollywood quiz? It’s honestly the best way to escape the awkward Diwali party on Zoom that you were invited to but weren’t keen on attending.
We are honoured to have Mayank Shekar, columnist extraordinaire to host the quiz along with acclaimed authors Aseem Chabbra and Karishma Upadhyay on the panel. As always we have prizes to be won on EVERY question.
Three things we learnt this week:
Speaking of things that India is obsessed with - cricket.
When India became independent in 1947 it became a self-governing dominion within the British Commonwealth. India saw dominion status in 1947 as a temporary measure until they could finalize their constitution, declare themselves a republic and leave the Commonwealth. At that time, one of the requirements for a test-playing nation was to be a member of the Commonwealth. India can thank Jawaharlal Nehru for its continued love affair with the sport post independence. Despite Sardar Patel’s opposition, Nehru ensured India was a republic and also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, thereby preserving India’s test status.
Speaking of opposition, Nehru shared a great friendship with one of his staunchest critics - the cartoonist Shankar. Shankar on May 17, 1964 made a cartoon highlighting the problem of succession that could arise in the event of Nehru’s death. Nehru passed away on May 27, 1964 and this cartoon predicted all the subsequent Prime Ministers in order!
There was another world leader who was instrumental in a country’s freedom struggle and became its first prime minister post-independance. Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, became Mauritius’ first Prime Minister in 1968. And adding to his connections with Nehru, Ramgoolam was also fondly called ‘Chacha’.
Things we’re reading / watching / listening to:
American rapper Merkel Scott took his stage name Bishop Nehru from Tupac Shakur’s character in the movie Juice and from…you guessed it - Jawaharlal Nehru. In an interview he stated: “In Global History, like 9th or 10th grade, we were learning about India, Gandhi and the peace movement, So after that, when I said the name Nehru, it just hit me in a certain way.” Check out his collaboration with MF DOOM on the album ‘NehruvianDoom’, one of our favourites:
This episode on ‘All Things Policy’ discusses if Nehru was a starry-eyed foreign policy optimist and if he had a more realist strategy than we like to think. The episode also looks at how his actions shaped the future trajectory of Indian diplomacy. Lend an ear to this beautiful podcast released on the PM's 130th birthday
Bharat Ek Khoj is a historical drama based on the book authored by Nehru ‘Discovery of India’. Check out for the episode talking about Khilji’s conquest with Khilji played by Om Puri. There is a glimpse of Ghoomar too, but without any controversy.
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Stay Safe. Celebrate Diwali with lots of social distancing and hand washing.
❤️ IWTK