Books, articles and blogs have been written on Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, but his wife Kamala Nehru is rarely discussed. While some close people of the Nehru family say that Kamala Nehru had a great influence on Jawaharlal. Born on August 1, 1899, Kamala was married to Jawaharlal in 1916. Kamala belonged to a Kashmiri Brahmin family. At the time of marriage, she was just 17 and Pandit Nehru was 26 years old. She died on 28 February 1936 at the age of 37 due to tuberculosis (TB). The first child of Jawaharlal and Kamala had a boy who died a few years after his birth. The only surviving progeny of the Nehru couple was Indira Gandhi, who became the first woman PM of the country.
Jawaharlal Nehru's sister Vijay Laxmi Pandit wrote in her book "The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir" that Kamala Nehru played an important role in Jawaharlal's ideological transformation. Vijay Lakshmi Pandit writes, "She (Kamala) took Gandhi's philosophy of self-sacrifice very seriously. She urged Jawahar to abandon his revolutionary attitude and change his lifestyle. Kamala Nehru also participated extensively in many movements of Mahatma Gandhi. Kamla Nehru used to be at the forefront of movements like the Boycott of Foreign Goods and Liquor Ban in Allahabad."
Once, when Pandit Nehru was arrested by the British police for accusations of "treason" after a speech, Kamala Nehru herself gave a public forum speech. Afraid of Kamla's increasing popularity, the British also arrested her. But even after going to jail, Kamala's morale did not deteriorate, she was an ideal life partner for her husband, besides being a fearless woman of the freedom struggle. Perhaps this is the reason why she kept hiding her personal problems from husband and family, due to which her illness continued to grow day by day and finally she said goodbye to the world. But Kamla Nehru's contribution to the foundation of Indian politics is still immortal.
