Biography of Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru - Former Prime Minister of India

In this section, we will know the life history of the First Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru.

Jawarharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat and author who was a central figure in India during the middle third of the 20th century. He was a principal leader of the Indian independence movement in the 1930s and 1940s.

His descendants, including Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, were also prominent Indian leaders in India.

Biography of Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru was the first prime minister of India after independence. He was a key leader of the Indian National Congress and the independence movement. He worked with Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggles. He was an Indian lawyer, a Politician, a great writer and thinker.

Nehru was born on 14th November 1889 at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. He loved children's so much, and children called him as Chacha Nehru. His love for people and affection for children made Nehru very popular. The government celebrated his birthday as Children's Day in India.

Children's Day is celebrated across India to increase awareness of the rights and education of children. Nehru once said, "children are the wealth of the country". Nehru advocated for children to have fulfilled education.

Nehru considered children as a real strength of our Nation. On 14th November many educational and motivational programs are held across India for children. Nehru build many schools, introduced healthy food, educational systems etc.

Nehru had plans to build a great India. He was a man with strong determination. He once said, “Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves."

Jawaharlal Nehru with Albert Einstein in Princeton,
1949 Photo Credit - Wikipedia

He introduced Hindu Code Bill into parliament for uniform laws for marriage, minority guardianship and he launched Panchayati Raj. He was a great leader and a builder of modern India. That is why he is known as the “Architect of Modern India".

His father was Motilal Nehru, he was a lawyer and his mother was Swarup Rani Nehru. Nehru grew up with his sisters Vijaya Lakshmi and Krishna. Vijaya Lakshmi was a freedom fighter, she was the first woman president of the United Nation General Assembly.

He is also called as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru due to the reference of his Kashmiri Pandit community roots. He is from a wealthy background. Nehru described his childhood as a "sheltered and uneventful one". In 1905 he went to England for studies.

Nehru studied in two universities of England Harrow and Cambridge. From school time onwards he was interested in politics. He had studied law and returned to India then enrolled at the Allahabad High court. At the age of 24, he married Kamala Kaul in 1916. Their only daughter Indira was born a year later in 1917. Kamala gave birth to a boy in November 1924, but he lived for only a week.

Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru
at their wedding in Delhi, 1916
photo credit- Wikipedia

Their only daughter was Indira Priyadarshini (Indira Gandhi). Indira was born in 1917. she was the first women prime minister of India. Pt. Nehru became the General Secretary of the India Congress Committee in September 1923.

Nehru's first big national involvement came at the onset of the non-cooperation movement in 1920. He led the movement in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). Nehru was arrested on charges of anti-governmental activities in 1921 and released a few months later. In the rift that formed within the Congress following Gandhi's sudden halting of the non-Cooperation movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, Nehru remained loyal to him and did not join the Swaraj Party formed by his father Motilal Nehru and CR Das.

In 1929 Nehru was elected as the President of the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress. He completed his 'Autobiography' in Almora Jail on February 14th, 1935. Jawaharlal Nehru helped India to become independent.

“Aaram haram hai" is his famous quote by Nehru. This Hindi word means that laziness can harm oneself. Nehru needed his India to be free from the Britishers. At the end of the British raj, India got Independence on 15th August 1947.

He was elected as the first prime minister of India. On the midnight of 14th August 1947, Nehru addressed the Constituent Assembly, delivered his famous speech "Tryst with Destiny". Nehru became the first prime minister of India. Nehru served as prime minister for 18 years (1947–1964).

Nehru was a prolific writer in English and produced several books, such as The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, and his autobiography, An Autobiography or Toward Freedom.

Autobiography
of Nehru

He had written 30 letters to his daughter Indira Gandhi when she was 10 years old and in a boarding school in Mussoorie, teaching her about natural history and the story of civilisations. The collection of these letters was later published as a book titled Letters from a Father to His Daughter.

He pinned a red rose in his dress. He died on 27 May 1964 due to heart failure.

Famous Quotes by Jawaharlal Nehru •

There is nothing more horrifying than stupidity in action.

Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.

Live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.

What we need is a generation of peace.

Ignorance is always afraid of change.

The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds.

Biography of Jawaharlal Nehru