The “Father” at Home and the “Chacha” of the Nation: Jawaharlal Nehru and his Global Vision of Education

Abstract

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), the first prime minister of independent India, was an international statesman entrenched in colonial politics and decolonization. He was also a dedicated father to his daughter Indira who would later become the prime minister of India. Nehru’s fondness for children earned him the title of “chacha” (paternal uncle) and his birthday is celebrated as Children’s Day in India. Bridging the gap between the personal and the political life of Nehru, my paper focuses on the affective and filial practices of Nehru as a father engaged in educating his young daughter Indira and children at large. It draws on his collection of letters (1929–1933) to Indira, that retold the history of the world and revealed his zeal for a broad-based education for the younger generation in India. By connecting familial experiences with his greater concern for training the minds of a young fledgling nation, Nehru, as a father, creatively appropriated the colonial culture and entertained a vision that was transnational and global. He emphasized the freedom of mind and the underlying unity of human histories. By urging “minds without fear” and “heads held high,” Nehru envisioned children as autonomous, independent political actors of the modern world. The paper thus argues that in the face of colonial subjection, fatherhood was a domain of deliberation for educated and nationalist-minded Indian men like Nehru whose concerns for social justice rested on the new generation.