NEHRU AND LADY MOUNTBATTEN : A GREAT LOVE (Part Five)
The dreaded moment came when the Mounbattens went down the line of assembled dignitaries to shake their hands in a final farewell. When she extended her hand to Nehru, he took her gloved hand in both of his and tenderly raised it to his lips. That gesture is enshrined in a historic photograph.
In his speech bidding the Mounbattens farewell, Nehru said of lady Mountbatten:
" The gods gave you beauty and intelligence and grace and charm. But they also gave you something that is rarer than those great gifts: they gave you the human touch, the love of humanity, and the urge to help the suffering and those who are in distress."
Lady Mountbatten burst into tears at those words, finally giving in to her grief at the parting.
The new Governor General, Rajagopalachari told Lord Mounbatten in his speech,
"You and Lady Mounbatten have left us with a tender kiss. Long live Britain ! Long live India !
That cry was echoed by the crowd of millions who thronged the streets of Delhi to bid the Mountbattens good'bye. In response to the crowd's cheers of "Jai Mountbatten!" (Long live Mounbatten), "England Zindabad" (Long Live England) Lord Mountbatten shouted "Jai Hind!" (Long live India).
The Times of India wrote the next day:
Lord Mountbatten has wound up Indo-British history in a manner that has constituted a re-conquest."
Shortly after her return to England, Lady Mountbatten wrote to Nehru that her easy life in England felt tame after the tumultuous years in India. Nehru wrote to her that he read re-read her letters.
In October Nehru went to London for the Commonwealth conference. He unhesitatingly agreed that India would join the Commonwealth of Nations.
Lord Mountbatten who viewed his theoretical rival for his wife's heart with proud affection, wrote to India's Governor General, Rajagopalachari :
"He has literally taken the Commonwealth representatives by storm. The King sat down and wrote me one of his rare letters after Nehru had left, telling me that he wanted me to know what a deep impression Jawahar had made on him and how much he liked him."
During his visit to England Nehru spent happy days at the Mounbattens' palatial estate, Broadlands,where he stayed at the invitation of the Mountbattens.
Soon afterwards, Lady Mountbatten plunged into charitable works that would take her around England and the Channel Islands, Germany and Trieste, Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya and Ceylon.
She and Nehru wrote to each other every day at first, then inevitably once a week, and then once a fortnight. On her travels to the Orient, she would spend a few days in Delhi.
In 1952 Lady Mountbatten had to undergo dangerous surgery and entrusted the letters Nehru has written her to Lord Mountbatten, telling him where she kept.
" You will see that they are a mix of typical Jawahar letters: some are historical documents and contain no personal remarks at all, some read like love letters. But you know the strange relationship, mostly spiritual, that exist between us. He has played an important role in my life these last few years, and, I think, I have in his. Our meetings have been rare and always fleeting, but I think that we understand each other as much as two human beings ever CAN understand each other."
This was no less than a testament. Fortunately, Lady Mountbatten survived the surgery and lived another eight years.
In January 1960 lady Mountbatten stopped over in Delhi on her way to Malaya to oversee one of her charities and witnessed the Republic Day parade seated beside Nehru. That evening, on the lawns of Nehru's official residence, she beamed wit joy as the seventy year old Nehru, several years her senior, jumped and danced with folk dancers from all over India who all insisted that he dance and be photographed with them. In photographs of that evening Nehru looks exuberant and Lady Mountbatten, radiantly happy..
The next day she left for Malaya and worked tirelessly even though she complained of dizziness and pain. She refused to see a doctor despite a plea by her hosts. The next morning, when her secretary knocked on her door, she did not respond. He found that her body was already cold. She had died in her sleep of a heart attack. Countess Mountbatten of Burma, still one of the richest women in the world, was no more.
Beside her a was a pile of letters. She must have been reading them when she died, for a few, having fluttered from her hands, were strewn across her bed. They were all from Nehru.
Both Nehru and Lord Mountbatten were inconsolable. She had wanted to be buried at sea and Nehru sent the Indian frigate, I.N.S. Trishul, all the way to the English Channel to cast a wreath of marigolds into the waters, after her coffin.
He outlived her by four years when his mighty heart too stopped after a massive heart attack. He had died heartbroken after seeing India through the Indo-Chinese war in 1962. A pan-Asia friendship had been one of his life's dreams.
Lord Mountbatten flew to India immediately upon receiving the news and there is a photograph of him standing beside Nehru's body. Nehru looks sad but a peace. Lord Mountbatten ,with his mouth open, had clearly been crying.
In 1979 Lord Mountbatten succumbed to a bombing by the IRS. They had wanted a prominent English target. And so came to an end the life of the cousin of the King, the uncle of Queen Elizabeth, the foster father of the Duke of Edinburgh, Admiral of the Royal Navy, the victor against the Japanese in Burma, the foster grandfather of prince Charles, a doting husband, a loyal and loving friend, and the last Viceroy of India who will live forever in history as the man who carried out the Herculian task of the Transfer of Power, bringing the British Raj to and end with grace and dignity.
In this, his noble wife Lady Mountbatten played no small role.
Their daughter Pamela Mounbatten, must have the last word on this essay on three great souls:
After her parents' death she wrote," I've often been asked whether I think that Nehru and my mother were in love with each other. The answer undoubtedly is, Yes, they were."
In his speech bidding the Mounbattens farewell, Nehru said of lady Mountbatten:
" The gods gave you beauty and intelligence and grace and charm. But they also gave you something that is rarer than those great gifts: they gave you the human touch, the love of humanity, and the urge to help the suffering and those who are in distress."
Lady Mountbatten burst into tears at those words, finally giving in to her grief at the parting.
The new Governor General, Rajagopalachari told Lord Mounbatten in his speech,
"You and Lady Mounbatten have left us with a tender kiss. Long live Britain ! Long live India !
That cry was echoed by the crowd of millions who thronged the streets of Delhi to bid the Mountbattens good'bye. In response to the crowd's cheers of "Jai Mountbatten!" (Long live Mounbatten), "England Zindabad" (Long Live England) Lord Mountbatten shouted "Jai Hind!" (Long live India).
The Times of India wrote the next day:
Lord Mountbatten has wound up Indo-British history in a manner that has constituted a re-conquest."
Shortly after her return to England, Lady Mountbatten wrote to Nehru that her easy life in England felt tame after the tumultuous years in India. Nehru wrote to her that he read re-read her letters.
In October Nehru went to London for the Commonwealth conference. He unhesitatingly agreed that India would join the Commonwealth of Nations.
Lord Mountbatten who viewed his theoretical rival for his wife's heart with proud affection, wrote to India's Governor General, Rajagopalachari :
"He has literally taken the Commonwealth representatives by storm. The King sat down and wrote me one of his rare letters after Nehru had left, telling me that he wanted me to know what a deep impression Jawahar had made on him and how much he liked him."
During his visit to England Nehru spent happy days at the Mounbattens' palatial estate, Broadlands,where he stayed at the invitation of the Mountbattens.
Soon afterwards, Lady Mountbatten plunged into charitable works that would take her around England and the Channel Islands, Germany and Trieste, Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya and Ceylon.
She and Nehru wrote to each other every day at first, then inevitably once a week, and then once a fortnight. On her travels to the Orient, she would spend a few days in Delhi.
In 1952 Lady Mountbatten had to undergo dangerous surgery and entrusted the letters Nehru has written her to Lord Mountbatten, telling him where she kept.
" You will see that they are a mix of typical Jawahar letters: some are historical documents and contain no personal remarks at all, some read like love letters. But you know the strange relationship, mostly spiritual, that exist between us. He has played an important role in my life these last few years, and, I think, I have in his. Our meetings have been rare and always fleeting, but I think that we understand each other as much as two human beings ever CAN understand each other."
This was no less than a testament. Fortunately, Lady Mountbatten survived the surgery and lived another eight years.
In January 1960 lady Mountbatten stopped over in Delhi on her way to Malaya to oversee one of her charities and witnessed the Republic Day parade seated beside Nehru. That evening, on the lawns of Nehru's official residence, she beamed wit joy as the seventy year old Nehru, several years her senior, jumped and danced with folk dancers from all over India who all insisted that he dance and be photographed with them. In photographs of that evening Nehru looks exuberant and Lady Mountbatten, radiantly happy..
The next day she left for Malaya and worked tirelessly even though she complained of dizziness and pain. She refused to see a doctor despite a plea by her hosts. The next morning, when her secretary knocked on her door, she did not respond. He found that her body was already cold. She had died in her sleep of a heart attack. Countess Mountbatten of Burma, still one of the richest women in the world, was no more.
Beside her a was a pile of letters. She must have been reading them when she died, for a few, having fluttered from her hands, were strewn across her bed. They were all from Nehru.
Both Nehru and Lord Mountbatten were inconsolable. She had wanted to be buried at sea and Nehru sent the Indian frigate, I.N.S. Trishul, all the way to the English Channel to cast a wreath of marigolds into the waters, after her coffin.
He outlived her by four years when his mighty heart too stopped after a massive heart attack. He had died heartbroken after seeing India through the Indo-Chinese war in 1962. A pan-Asia friendship had been one of his life's dreams.
Lord Mountbatten flew to India immediately upon receiving the news and there is a photograph of him standing beside Nehru's body. Nehru looks sad but a peace. Lord Mountbatten ,with his mouth open, had clearly been crying.
In 1979 Lord Mountbatten succumbed to a bombing by the IRS. They had wanted a prominent English target. And so came to an end the life of the cousin of the King, the uncle of Queen Elizabeth, the foster father of the Duke of Edinburgh, Admiral of the Royal Navy, the victor against the Japanese in Burma, the foster grandfather of prince Charles, a doting husband, a loyal and loving friend, and the last Viceroy of India who will live forever in history as the man who carried out the Herculian task of the Transfer of Power, bringing the British Raj to and end with grace and dignity.
In this, his noble wife Lady Mountbatten played no small role.
Their daughter Pamela Mounbatten, must have the last word on this essay on three great souls:
After her parents' death she wrote," I've often been asked whether I think that Nehru and my mother were in love with each other. The answer undoubtedly is, Yes, they were."
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