Mother India (PB)

Mother India is the fascinating story of independent India's most complex GUPTE political figure: Indira Gandhi the enigmatic and solitary daughter of the country's first prime minister who rose to become prime minister herself. Review Gupte s book is an engaging page-turner . . . the narrative takes in its sweep the oversized story of India its chequered political journey its many foreign policy challenges its battles with disease poverty and terrorism --The Hindu From the Back Cover This is a sweeping biography of the life of Indira Gandhi one of the great leaders of the twentieth century. It is the story of a remarkable woman who rose to become prime minister of a troubled India an India of more than 900 million people. The daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru himself a prime minister before her she grew up in a household fiercely dedicated to independence from England. Her parents spent much of their time as political prisoners. Indira spent much of her time in school or alone. When she was still a teenager she raised money for the freedom movement and organized rallies; and although she studied at Oxford she never doubted that she would devote her life to her country. With her mother dead she accompanied Nehru on all of his state visits. It was her initiation into a political career of her own. As prime minister Mrs. Gandhi wielded great power. She struggled ceaselessly to bring India into the modern world; she committed herself to programs to better the life of the people; she tirelessly promoted nonalignment and nuclear disarmament. But she was continually beleaguered by conflicts with the Muslims of Pakistan and the Sikhs of Punjab. As Pranay Gupte vividly recounts these difficulties made Mrs. Gandhi more militant and more eager for control. She became self-interested let corruption seep into her government promised much and delivered little. In the end she made scores of enemies and on October 31 1984 she was assassinated by two bodyguards in her garden. In this stunning portrait we have a trenchant analysis of a shrewd and deft political figure - a genius in her own right bitterly opposed by many but for millions of the masses she was alwaysMother India the embodiment of a thousand goddesses the symbol of shakti or divine strength. About the Author Gupte is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Earth Times and President of the Earth Times Foundation. He is also a columnist for Newsweek International and a contributing editor for Forbes. He created The Earth Times's Web site and appears as a radio and TV commentator. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.