INDIRA

THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF 31ST OCTOBER 1984; SHE WAS STROLLING THROUGH HER GARDENS WITH A SMILE ON HER FACE. HER BOTH HANDS JOINED IN A `NAMASTE. INDIRA GANDHI WAS ASSASSINATED BY HER OWN BODY GUARDS. HER DEATH WAS SIMILAR TO HER LIFE. THOUGH SURROUNDED BY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SHE WAS ALWAYS ALONE. A GREAT EPIC, A GREAT LIFE CAME TO AN ABRUPT END, IN A WRONG WAY, BY THE WRONG DEEDS. SHE WAS BORN IN THE ERA WHEN INDIAN NATIONALISM WAS BORN. HER FATHER PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU ALWAYS REFERRED TO HER AS THE BABY OF REVOLUTION. SHE WAS STRONG PHYSICALLY AS WELL AS MENTALLY. IT WAS THE WISH OF DESTINY THAT INDIRA WOULD PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN THE POST INDEPENDENT INDIAN POLITICS. IN THE BEGINNING SHE FLINCHED A BIT. SHE WAS INITIALLY VERY SHY, INTROVERT AND FRAGILE. BUT AS SHE ACCEPTED THE RESPONSIBILITY SHE DID NEITHER TURN BACK NOR FLINCH. SHE WAS ONE OF THE TOPMOST, POWERFUL, INFLUENTIAL, INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL FIGURE. SHE WAS THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE LARGEST DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY OF THE WORLD, BUT IT WAS A FACT THAT THIS COUNTRY WAS SHATTERED DUE TO THE VARIOUS RELIGIONS. IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND THE MENTALITY OF THE PEOPLE HERE. IT WAS MAINLY A MALE CHAUVINISTIC SOCIETY. KATHARINE FRANK HAS TRIED TO TAKE A REVIEW OF THE `WOMAN OF THE MILLENNIUM`, THE LADY WHO WAS THE LEADER OF THE BIGGEST DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY AND WHO CARRIED IT OUT VERY COMPETENTLY; AND WHOSE NAME WAS IMPRINTED ON THE 20TH CENTURY THROUGH THE WORK SHE DID.