| Usha Bhagat's biography of Indira Gandhi falls somewhere between these two styles. Indira Gandhi clearly fascinates her and Bhagat seems almost a little jealous of those who appear to have a deeper relationship with Gandhi, like Pupul Jayakar. |
| In the book this comes across as Bhagat's constant effort to be protective towards Mrs Gandhi. At the same time she unconsciously echoes what Sitaram Kesri, Congress party treasurer, had to say about the Gandhis, especially Indira: that the family was like the sun""you could enjoy its warmth from afar, but if you came too close, you were liable to get burnt. |
| Usha Bhagat worked with Indira Gandhi in various capacities for 31 years, mostly as secretary. She was a gentlewoman, from a family, one of many others, who lost everything during the Partition and came to Delhi to begin life from scratch. |
| Bhagat began working in Shiv Niketan, the kindergarten school run by the mercurial Elisabeth Gauba. She first came into contact with Indira Gandhi when Sanjay and Rajiv were admitted to the school at 8 Hailey Road. |
| From Bhagat we learn of the ups and downs of the relationship between Indira Gandhi and Mrs Gauba, who from being merely the principal of the school where Sanjay and Rajiv studied, tried seeking power and control over Mrs Gandhi. |
| The Gandhi-Gauba relationship indicates how in the coming years Indira Gandhi created her own defence mechanism, building the first layer of the tough carapace that was her public persona. |
| The book talks as much of Bhagat as it does of Indira Gandhi. The two young women are contemporaries, with similar interests""the arts, painting, music, and the spiritual in religion. They could so easily have been friends. But they are not, it seems. |
| Bhagat, we find, frequently agonises about the asymmetry in the relationship, needing reassurance, a need that (judging from the notes Gandhi has written to her) confused Indira Gandhi. For Bhagat, who clearly has shared just a fraction of all that she knows about the personalities in Gandhi's life, to be forthright about Gandhi appears to equal disloyalty. |
| She is anxious to suspend judgment, and appends many of Indira Gandhi's notes in the book, which show Indira Gandhi as loving, affectionate and clearly needing a friend who would double up as person of all work. Bhagat is not comfortable in this role. If that is the case, why do we need a book on Mrs Gandhi? All Bhagat needed to have done was write another letter to her ... |
| But despite the intellectual and emotional compromise that the book represents and all that it holds back, you want to know more, as much about Usha Bhagat as about Indira Gandhi. |
| Indira Gandhi's obvious adoration of her father, her reactions to emotional challenges, and her weakness for Sanjay that rendered her oblivious to his lack of scruples""all that is well-chronicled in other works about Mrs Gandhi. |
| Bhagat's account is more valuable for the insights it gives us into Mrs Gandhi's early life. From all accounts, she was a devoted mother with whom young mothers today will readily identify, trying to juggle a professional life with the responsibility of bringing up children. |
| At the same time, she displays an imperious self-centredness in relation to people around her, something Bhagat feels but would rather not spell out in so many words. |
| For instance, she talks about MO Mathai's rudeness and RK Dhawan's crassness and how much this upset her. But wasn't Indira Gandhi to blame for allowing this to happen and hurting Bhagat in the process? |
| Indiraji: Through My Eyes is not a definitive book on Indira Gandhi. It does not pretend to be. It is a competent effort to shed light on one facet of Indira Gandhi's complicated life. But it is valuable because it tries to tell you about Indira, the human being. What is missing is a companion volume: the life of Usha Bhagat. |
| INDIRAJI THROUGH MY EYES |
| Usha Bhagat Penguin Viking Price: Rs 595; Pages: 285 |
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