Rare glimpses of Indira, the nature lover

By K. E. Radhakrishna

In my lovely childhood I found solace on the lap of Nature. Being the only daughter of my parents, when my childhood was overpowered by the National movement, I found my internal peace in the company of Mother Nature. I grew up loving all types of plants, flowers, different species of animals and birds, and also loved to touch and see different shaped and coloured stones. It is my firm belief that a close relationship with Nature would help one to evolve as a compassionate human being.”

This piece on Nature was written on Nov 24, 1969 by Indira Gandhi, who, depending on whom you asked, was an ‘Iron Woman’, emergency imposer and the ‘only one man in the cabinet.’ Very few knew that the one who was adored and condemned simultaneously, had her inner being endowed with a strong spirituality that endured her to survive in a ruthless political world dominated by men. It was her inner self that converged with Nature.

It was on the 31st of October 1984, a few days before she was cruelly shot down by her own body guards that she visited Kashmir along with her grandchildren, ignoring security concerns. She used to visit her ancestral land almost every year — Kashmir, the Paradise on Earth. She enjoyed walking on the baby-sprout grass-covered earth and the beauty of Dachigam National Park, immersing herself with the beautiful mountains, flora, fauna, gardens, dancing streams and the trees changing colours in tune with seasons.

“I was blessed to grow up in the brotherhood of different species of birds and plants, and used to rest under the sky looking at the multiple stars. This made me learn more about the stars, star circles and their movements,” she writes.

She was an astute and at times, ruthless politician. But her association with great personalities – scientists, painters, musicians, writers and especially environmentalists are little known to most. She was a great friend of the ornithologist Salim Ali – the ‘bird man of India’ – and wrote the foreword to his “Book of Indian Birds”.

Between September 11, 1942 to May 13, 1943 (almost nine months), Indira Gandhi was interned in prison for participating in the freedom movement. She would engross herself in the daytime viewing the variety of birds that would frequent the Big Banyan tree standing outside her window, like an Emperor. “He bared himself by shedding his leaves and again sprouting them, gradually covering his entire body,” she would say. Gradually, she would recognize from the voice alone which species of bird it was that sang. She would often write about these pretty things to her father, Pandit Nehru, who was her great educator in history, culture, geography as well as nature.

She always looked forward to accompanying her father on his visits, be it in Tibet for trekking, or Gujarat to see the Gir Forest famous for Lions or to Kaziranga to spot the one-horned rhinoceros. She saw a tiger for the first time in Karnataka, on October 19, 1955, when she visited the Jog falls. She describes how it happened: “I am here enjoying an amazing sight. Though the condition of the roads is miserable, I forgot about it, by looking at the soothing, thick and tall trees around. I thought that it may not be possible to see any animals in this dense forest. But Lo! Just in front of our car, a beautiful tiger, which I saw for the first time in life, free and wild, un-captive, majestically crossing the road.”

She mentioned this incident, in a foreword to M. Y. Ghorpade’s book. A Tiger skin decorated the passage wall of Teen Murti Bhavan – this Tiger that was shot by the King of Reva. She writes to Rajiv Gandhi, “Whenever I pass through this passage I feel terrible regret, that this poor animal, which is lying lifeless on the wall, used to wander freely, roaring in the forest in its homeland. What a beautiful animal the tiger is! How charming! Its strong muscles pushing out of its skin is a memorable sight to see! Just a few days before, he was the king of the forest! It is shameless that for a second’s pleasure, people take away another’s life! How I wish that people would shoot them with their cameras instead of their guns!” No other words are required to know what made her inner makeup!

Indira as Prime Minister

Assuming the Prime Minister’s office on January 24, 1966, after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, she was called as ‘gungi gudia’ by the powerful members of the Congress caucus, called the ‘Syndicate.’ But it did not take her much time to show her mettle, and take control of her office and party. Growing up under the tutelage of Pandit Nehru, she witnessed the intricacies of politics up close and had connections with the men who matter