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manjititape's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
gunjan2024's review against another edition
5.0
Indira is someone who got fascinated with politics, she was someone who was forced into politics. Right from her birth, she was actively or passively active in politics whereabouts of her parents. Her whole family was indulged in the fight for freedom. She was destined to be the one she became. Even when she had the choice to leave all that behind and start anew she chose to serve the country. With this cane power, and popularity, and love and support by citizens of India. But this also made her corrupt to the level that she would remain silent over the issues she herself wouldn’t allow to happen.
The book was well written and honest till depth.
The book was well written and honest till depth.
marie_gg's review against another edition
4.0
Intriguing life; shows the complexity of this fascinating woman.
gunjan_shri's review against another edition
4.0
I fail to understand what the hue and cry was about. To me the book was a well researched, and well written piece of work. The fact that it deals with one of the most famous Indian political figure, makes you admire the dispassionate and objective view. This dispassionate and objective view, to a large extent has been possible cause, the author is not of Indian origin. As is evident from the outcry surrounding the book, in India we tend to treat our leaders, sports stars n movie stars like demigods. We forget that these are human beings, mortals who have the same frailty as any of us. We seem hurt n disappointed when it is revealed that our Gods have feet of clay.
Read this book to get an insight on the personal and political working of the legend called Indira Gandhi. To understand the political past on which the future of India is based. To see how the monsters created by the GOI, came back to haunt them. It is a story of a woman made extraordinary by her birth, destiny and her own will power. Her rise to power and her inevitable fall. It is the story of how the founding stone was laid for what is now known as "The First Family of Indian Politics", the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
Read this book to get an insight on the personal and political working of the legend called Indira Gandhi. To understand the political past on which the future of India is based. To see how the monsters created by the GOI, came back to haunt them. It is a story of a woman made extraordinary by her birth, destiny and her own will power. Her rise to power and her inevitable fall. It is the story of how the founding stone was laid for what is now known as "The First Family of Indian Politics", the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
karthikm_86's review against another edition
2.0
mostly hearsay, character analysis changes with each chapter.
No structure to this book at all!
No structure to this book at all!
tbr_the_unconquered's review against another edition
4.0
Over stale, machine made coffee in office a colleague asked me Do you think India is a democracy ? Biting back the Yes that close to three decades of being an Indian have instilled in me, I asked Why ? He grins and then replies I am just wondering why in the so-called largest democracy in the world, only one family has the right to rule !! This made perfect sense to me for ever since independence, one member or the other from the Nehru family has been on the center stage of Indian politics. All these sum up why I thought of giving the biography of one of the most influential of this dynasty to hold India at sway a shot : Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi.
First off I must say that I was impressed by the candor and research that would have gone into the creation of this book. The sketch of Gandhi as a shrewd,manipulative old man who knew how to achieve his ends will always be a revelation in a country which always made a god out of him. But the spotlight in the book falls on the Nehrus which I can say in a cliched way : was, is and probably will be India's first family for a long time to come. The author tells of the colossus of man named Jawaharlal Nehru and his larger than life public image and a not-so-cozy private life. What gets laid bare in the pages is about a dysfunctional family of a great man who did not honestly get time for himself, his wife who was slipping away mentally from him and of the daughter who suffered through it all. Indira grows up through all the tumults of the Indian freedom struggle and also through the storms and gales that engulf her personal life. She becomes an adolscent, a teenager and has a stormy marriage. She becomes a wife and a mother. In short she wears all the masks that life gives a woman to wear. It was probably after all these were completed that the metamorphosis began.
Moving out from the shadow of her god-like father, through fits and starts she carves her own niche. Inevitably the reins of this mass of humanity was passed on to her more as a birthright than anything else. It is true that Indira Gandhi was one of the people who moulded India into what it is today. Her tremendous popular appeal made her 'Mother India' to the masses and even had people believing that she was the Goddess incarnate. From then on, if I were to borrow the author's words : From that pinnacle of power,fame and popularity she had nowhere to go but down. Her undoings were many but most notable were the state of emergency imposed on India, her apparent clinging to power believing herself to be a sort of messianic figure who could save India and the sycophancy and nepotism that was the proverbial last straw that broke the camel's back.Like many a tragic figure she gets caught in a storm of violence of her own making.
I enjoyed the writing style in most of the passages and being closely linked to the history of India, it unurprisingly reminded me of pages from my History textbooks of old. Frank does give way to rumors and allegations at places which the book could have done without.
There was one observation I had of the principal characters : The Nehrus. While preaching austerity, high moral standards and a refinement that bordered on nobility the Nehrus chose to holiday in Europe's finest locations while a subcontinent was in tumult in its clamor for independence ! While Nehru & Indira skied on the mountainslopes of Switzerland, countless thousands lay rotting in British Jails. Something I found bizzare & more or less sinful ! I do not discount the selfless dedications that this family made for India but this at first glance was a tad too much for me.
First off I must say that I was impressed by the candor and research that would have gone into the creation of this book. The sketch of Gandhi as a shrewd,manipulative old man who knew how to achieve his ends will always be a revelation in a country which always made a god out of him. But the spotlight in the book falls on the Nehrus which I can say in a cliched way : was, is and probably will be India's first family for a long time to come. The author tells of the colossus of man named Jawaharlal Nehru and his larger than life public image and a not-so-cozy private life. What gets laid bare in the pages is about a dysfunctional family of a great man who did not honestly get time for himself, his wife who was slipping away mentally from him and of the daughter who suffered through it all. Indira grows up through all the tumults of the Indian freedom struggle and also through the storms and gales that engulf her personal life. She becomes an adolscent, a teenager and has a stormy marriage. She becomes a wife and a mother. In short she wears all the masks that life gives a woman to wear. It was probably after all these were completed that the metamorphosis began.
Moving out from the shadow of her god-like father, through fits and starts she carves her own niche. Inevitably the reins of this mass of humanity was passed on to her more as a birthright than anything else. It is true that Indira Gandhi was one of the people who moulded India into what it is today. Her tremendous popular appeal made her 'Mother India' to the masses and even had people believing that she was the Goddess incarnate. From then on, if I were to borrow the author's words : From that pinnacle of power,fame and popularity she had nowhere to go but down. Her undoings were many but most notable were the state of emergency imposed on India, her apparent clinging to power believing herself to be a sort of messianic figure who could save India and the sycophancy and nepotism that was the proverbial last straw that broke the camel's back.Like many a tragic figure she gets caught in a storm of violence of her own making.
I enjoyed the writing style in most of the passages and being closely linked to the history of India, it unurprisingly reminded me of pages from my History textbooks of old. Frank does give way to rumors and allegations at places which the book could have done without.
There was one observation I had of the principal characters : The Nehrus. While preaching austerity, high moral standards and a refinement that bordered on nobility the Nehrus chose to holiday in Europe's finest locations while a subcontinent was in tumult in its clamor for independence ! While Nehru & Indira skied on the mountainslopes of Switzerland, countless thousands lay rotting in British Jails. Something I found bizzare & more or less sinful ! I do not discount the selfless dedications that this family made for India but this at first glance was a tad too much for me.
guncha's review against another edition
4.0
Partial read 0 but quite interesting. Others' lives and problems seem so easy and solvable from far...
nealalex's review against another edition
4.0
I’d imagined that Indira Gandhi directly succeeded her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, as Prime Minister of India, having been groomed by him for power. In fact, he didn’t think she was cut out for such a role and, when he died, she wasn’t even a member of parliament and so was ineligible to be PM. This was despite having been active in Congress (i.e. the Indian National Congress party) since her youth and imprisoned by the British during WWII. When the second Indian PM (Shastri) died, many Congress leaders were opposed to the front-running succession candidate, and got behind Indira Gandhi because she was popular and, they thought, pliable. Although she seems to have accepted out of a sense of noblesse oblige, she grew into the role and kept independent of her backers.
From then on, it pretty much follows the adage that power corrupts. After calling an election for 1971, a reporter asked her what the issues were and she replied “I am the issue”. Although she played her cards well at first, in particular in the Bangladesh War of Independence, she became more autocratic, indulged her thuggish son Sanjay, and banished almost everyone with the integrity to stand up to her. The final tragedy was that her death was part of the chain reaction from her and her son promoting Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in order to split the opposition in Punjab, only for him to grow out of their control and finally be killed (to some, martyred) in the storming of the Golden Temple.
From then on, it pretty much follows the adage that power corrupts. After calling an election for 1971, a reporter asked her what the issues were and she replied “I am the issue”. Although she played her cards well at first, in particular in the Bangladesh War of Independence, she became more autocratic, indulged her thuggish son Sanjay, and banished almost everyone with the integrity to stand up to her. The final tragedy was that her death was part of the chain reaction from her and her son promoting Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in order to split the opposition in Punjab, only for him to grow out of their control and finally be killed (to some, martyred) in the storming of the Golden Temple.
nita_kohli's review against another edition
5.0
This is a massive book of about 700 pages but I just flew through it. I never felt tired or burdened with the facts and the in depth information laid by this book. I was turning page after page and it is one of those rarest books I have read that I felt depressed when it ended.
Why did I decide to read this? Because I have a keen interest in reading about Indian politics and lives of some of our prominent leaders. Indira Gandhi is one of such leaders, daughter of Nehru and the only Indian woman Prime Minister.
My source of reading materials on Indian politics and leaders for years have been the ones found on the internet. But in today’s time when the credibility of such online materials is threatened by the fake news and information being widely shared on social media and whatsapp messages I decided to trust books.
In my search to find what book should I read, I found this book in my local library.
This book gives a detailed account of Indira’s life - her family, her political and her personal life.
It is divided into three parts with each part taking the reader into the different phases of Indira Gandhi’s life.
What I liked most about this book is that it provides an unbiased account of Indira Gandhi’s life. The author does not try to create a hero or a martyr out of Indira but instead she lays down the facts and true events of her life leaving the readers to decide if they want to rever Indira or abhor her. The author doesn’t shy away in pointing out when people including Indira could not be considered a reliable source of information and when they changed their narration of events. The author not only talks about Indira Gandhi’s strengths but also her weakness and her wrong doings.
I am not a supporter of any leader or any party but I do believe that if one wants to read about Indian politics then some leaders cannot be missed and Indira Gandhi is one of such leaders.
This book gives the readers a look into the life of Indira Gandhi not only as a leader but also as a daughter, a wife, a mother and a grandmother. An incredible book that must be read.
This book is now one of the best books I have ever read.
Why did I decide to read this? Because I have a keen interest in reading about Indian politics and lives of some of our prominent leaders. Indira Gandhi is one of such leaders, daughter of Nehru and the only Indian woman Prime Minister.
My source of reading materials on Indian politics and leaders for years have been the ones found on the internet. But in today’s time when the credibility of such online materials is threatened by the fake news and information being widely shared on social media and whatsapp messages I decided to trust books.
In my search to find what book should I read, I found this book in my local library.
This book gives a detailed account of Indira’s life - her family, her political and her personal life.
It is divided into three parts with each part taking the reader into the different phases of Indira Gandhi’s life.
What I liked most about this book is that it provides an unbiased account of Indira Gandhi’s life. The author does not try to create a hero or a martyr out of Indira but instead she lays down the facts and true events of her life leaving the readers to decide if they want to rever Indira or abhor her. The author doesn’t shy away in pointing out when people including Indira could not be considered a reliable source of information and when they changed their narration of events. The author not only talks about Indira Gandhi’s strengths but also her weakness and her wrong doings.
I am not a supporter of any leader or any party but I do believe that if one wants to read about Indian politics then some leaders cannot be missed and Indira Gandhi is one of such leaders.
This book gives the readers a look into the life of Indira Gandhi not only as a leader but also as a daughter, a wife, a mother and a grandmother. An incredible book that must be read.
This book is now one of the best books I have ever read.
ptandon's review against another edition
4.0
My experience below is how I felt the book was and I would try to restrain myself from talking about Indira as a person .
So , as per me , there are two major parts of this biography .One part , which I thoroughly enjoyed was the journey of Indira Nehru from a meek sickly girl to the woman in power and politics. I enjoyed this part, It was well researched , a lot of nuances came from the letters between different parties . The facts were stated without any major judgements and I really enjoyed it . I felt connected to Indira , could feel the core of her strength and could not help myself from feeling envious for the privileges the family had. The kind of vacations and travels the family did ( even though many were to treat Indira and her mother who suffered because of TB and other psychosomatic diseases) , obviously influenced their personalities and their outlook for the world politics . I loved reading the excerpts from the letters of Indira and Jawaharlal Nehru !
The second part , the journey from when Indira joined politics till her death , was, I felt highly biased and judgmental . It clearly portrayed characters in a single colour of black or white , which I personally don’t believe in . It was brutally critical for some ( for example Sanjay and Menaka Gandhi) , was sympathetic towards Indira for most parts and presented some people very innocent ( Rajeev and Sonia Gandhi ) . I struggled through this part , and finished the last few chapters with quite some effort! The good part were the excerpts of letters written by Indira Gandhi to her friend , Dorothy Norman.
The one person I came to admire through this book was Kamala Nehru , a strong feminist on the lookout of a purpose of her life surrounded by gigantic personalities.
Overall, the book is quite informative , very detailed but I cannot claim that it was free of prejudice or influence.
So , as per me , there are two major parts of this biography .One part , which I thoroughly enjoyed was the journey of Indira Nehru from a meek sickly girl to the woman in power and politics. I enjoyed this part, It was well researched , a lot of nuances came from the letters between different parties . The facts were stated without any major judgements and I really enjoyed it . I felt connected to Indira , could feel the core of her strength and could not help myself from feeling envious for the privileges the family had. The kind of vacations and travels the family did ( even though many were to treat Indira and her mother who suffered because of TB and other psychosomatic diseases) , obviously influenced their personalities and their outlook for the world politics . I loved reading the excerpts from the letters of Indira and Jawaharlal Nehru !
The second part , the journey from when Indira joined politics till her death , was, I felt highly biased and judgmental . It clearly portrayed characters in a single colour of black or white , which I personally don’t believe in . It was brutally critical for some ( for example Sanjay and Menaka Gandhi) , was sympathetic towards Indira for most parts and presented some people very innocent ( Rajeev and Sonia Gandhi ) . I struggled through this part , and finished the last few chapters with quite some effort! The good part were the excerpts of letters written by Indira Gandhi to her friend , Dorothy Norman.
The one person I came to admire through this book was Kamala Nehru , a strong feminist on the lookout of a purpose of her life surrounded by gigantic personalities.
Overall, the book is quite informative , very detailed but I cannot claim that it was free of prejudice or influence.
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