Dispatches

Photo Essay

The making of modern India

    Editor and publisher A. Gopanna; Nava India Publications, 2018; 528 pages; price Rs.3,000.
    October 2,1952: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru driving a tractor at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Also present, among others, are K.M. Munshi (behind Nehru) and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. Photo: page 279
    March 14, 1963: On a visit to the Bhilai Steel Plant in what is now Chhattisgarh. Set up with the erstwhile Soviet Union’s assistance and inaugurated in 1959, it is a major industrial project of the Nehru era. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    March 1952: At the Sindri Fertilizer factory in Dhanbad, then in Bihar (now in Jharkhand). It was the first fertilizer company set up in the public sector and marked the beginning of a major initiative for fertilizer production. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    September 1952: At the Tungabhadra dam works, Muneerabad. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    Nehru, 1948: “I am all for industry. I am all for steel plants and this and that; but I do say agriculture is far more important than any industry. Anything can wait, but not agriculture.” Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    August 15, 1947: Nehru hoists the national flag as the first Prime Minister of free India at the Red Fort in Delhi. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    1955: Nehru’s fortnight-long visit to the Soviet Union, his second, cleared the path for Soviet assistance in the construction of the Bhilai and Bokaro steel plants. Here, at the Stalingrad water and electricity centres that were under construction. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    May 21, 1959: The Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi explaining the model of the institute. The AIIMS was a product of Nehru’s vision of India as a pioneer in the field of medical science and related research. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    January 20, 1957: At the inauguration of the atomic reactor Apsara in Trombay, Bombay, Homi J. Bhabha is pointing something out to Nehru with Y.B. Chavan, Chief Minister of Bombay, looking on. Sri Prakasa (with umbrella), Governor of Bombay, is also in the picture. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    January 13, 1957: At the inauguration of the Hirakud dam in Orissa (now Odisha). Here, with other dignitaries at the switch yard. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    April 26, 1958: At the Peechi reservoir site in Kerala. Irrigation schemes gained high priority when the Planning Commission launched the Five-Year Plan in 1951. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    February 12, 1948: The final immersion ceremony of the sacred ashes of Mahatma Gandhi in Allahabad. The ashes arrived from Delhi on a special train and were taken in procession and immersed in the holy Ganga. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    September 18, 1949: Consoling Partition refugees in Ludhiana, Punjab. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    May 10, 1948: On a boat with Sheikh Abdullah during a river procession in Srinagar. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    With (from left) Sarojini Naidu, Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    With Lal Bahadur Shastri and All India Congress Committee president K. Kamaraj. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    In a huddle with Lord Mountbatten, the retiring Governor General of India, in New Delhi. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    July 1, 1959: In a happy mood after receiving a gift of cigars from the Cuban delegation, which included Che Guevara (centre). Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    1961: With Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia at the Belgrade conference, the first official summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    November 1961: On the lawns of the White House with President John F. Kennedy. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    October 21, 1954: Chairman Mao Zedong welcoming Nehru in Peking (now Beijing). Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    1954: With Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during a diplomatic meeting. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    Anand Bhawan, Allahabad, 1945: With daughter Indira Gandhi and grandson Rajiv, who was celebrating his first birthday. Photo: Photographs: Courtesy “Jawaharlal Nehru: An Illustrated Biography”
    This article is closed for comments.
    Please Email the Editor