Nehru's physical and intellectual endowments were, like his aesthetic appeal, extraordinary; but what in the final account impressed me most was his goodness.
If only the good were clever!
If only the clever were good!
Nehru was that rare man who is both clever and good. It is hard to be clever. But it is harder still to be good. He was that vary rare person, the clever man wielding power who remained good. No wonder Nehru wrote somewhere of the tempests raging around him being nothing to 'the storms within' him!
His personal kindness, and the trouble to which so overcharged a man gave himself, never failed. Some of his too innocent judgements on individuals, as also his allowing unimportant foreign visitors to encroach upon his time, were due to his kindness as much as to the politician in him.
His kindness to people of worth who also had humility was without limit. An old Scotch Australian scientist had somehow got interested in Nehru and out of this interest he came to India several times at his own expense.
He had little money, lived and traveled cheaply, and never thrust himself forward. In due course Nehru came upon him. Savouring his virtue and his mind Nehru arranged tours for him, put transport at his disposal, and spared nothing for the old man and his wife.
Image: A rare picture of Nehru at a press conference.
Buy Nehru, A Contemporary's Estimate by Walter Crocker
Also see: Remembering the China War
Available: Books on Nehru at Rediff Books!
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