Jawaharlal Nehru was born on the 14th of November 1889 into a family of immense wealth and privilege in Allahabad, British India. His father, Motilal Nehru, was a self-made barrister who earned a monthly income exceeding Rs. 10,000, a sum that placed the family among the elite of colonial India. Yet, the young Jawaharlal grew up in a sheltered and uneventful childhood within the sprawling mansion known as Anand Bhavan, far removed from the struggles of the common people. His early education was conducted by private governesses and tutors, including an Irishman named Ferdinand T. Brooks who introduced him to theosophy and the writings of Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells. These intellectual influences sparked a nationalist fervor in the boy, who began to view the Japanese victories in the Russo-Japanese War as a stirring call for Asiatic freedom from European thraldom. By the time he left for England to attend Harrow School, he had already begun to mix visions of India with the revolutionary deeds of Italian hero Giuseppe Garibaldi, dreaming of a similar fight for his own homeland.
The Barrister Who Chose Politics
After graduating with an honors degree in natural science from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1910, Nehru moved to London to study law at the Inner Temple, eventually being called to the Bar in 1912. He returned to India to enroll at the Allahabad High Court, where he was expected to inherit his father's lucrative legal practice. However, Nehru found little relish in the practice of law or the company of lawyers, and his involvement in nationalist politics gradually replaced his legal career. He married Kamala Kaul in 1916, and they had a daughter named Indira, born in 1917. The couple also lost a son in 1924 who lived for only a few days. Nehru's political awakening accelerated when he joined the Home Rule League led by Annie Besant, and he became secretary of the league. His first arrest came on the 6th of December 1921, marking the beginning of eight periods of detention between 1921 and 1945, totaling over nine years in prison. By 1923, he had emerged as a national figure, serving as general secretary of the Congress, president of the United Provinces Congress, and mayor of Allahabad all in the same year.The Declaration Of Independence
In 1929, Nehru assumed the presidency of the Congress party during the Lahore session and introduced a resolution calling for complete independence, known as Purna Swaraj. He drafted the Indian Declaration of Independence, which stated that it was the inalienable right of the Indian people to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil. On the midnight of New Year's Eve 1929, Nehru hoisted the tricolour flag of India upon the banks of the Ravi in Lahore, and a pledge of independence was read out to a massive gathering of the public. The resolution was ratified in 1931 at the Karachi session chaired by Vallabhbhai Patel, and 172 Indian members of central and provincial legislatures resigned in support of the resolution. This marked a turning point where Nehru gradually emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian independence movement, with Gandhi stepping back into a more spiritual role. The Congress asked the people of India to observe the 26th of January as Independence Day, and volunteers, nationalists, and the public hoisted the flag of India publicly across the country.