Today is the 50th death anniversary of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In recent years, it has become fashionable in some quarters to blame him for a great many of the problems of contemporary India. But many of his critics fail to see him within the context of his times and to acknowledge his visionary ability to transcend them.
Still, no matter what he has been accused of, it is impossible to doubt his sincerity. That is evident from his ability to engage even the fickle attention of children. In this clip from 1955, he explains to a group of kids (his grandsons Rajiv and Sanjay among them) why the Children’s Film Society was established.
Reading
-
1
On the Great Nicobar island, why the future is fearful
-
2
Living with cats can be great for physical and mental health – but is not without some risks
-
3
Why India’s tallest leader would have led the struggle against the Narmada Project
-
4
Bihar is using an app to track teachers’ attendance – much to their anger
-
5
‘Vijay 69’ review: A senior citizen’s impossible mission runs into scripting obstacles
-
6
‘Go back to India’: Anti-immigrant sentiment in Canada is fuelling hatred against South Asians
-
7
A restaurant menu from 1935 is a reminder of how much Bombay has changed
-
8
Communal tension in Uttarakhand town after Muslim man posts allegedly explicit video of woman online
-
9
‘Khwaabon Ka Jhamela’ review: A limp confidence-building exercise
-
10
Donald Trump elected next US president, says Americans ‘regained control of their country’