Clear-Eyed Sister

Everyone knows of India's Jawaharlal Nehru and of Madame Pandit, his handsome sister. Few know, however, of "the other Nehru sister," comely Krishna Nehru Hutheesing, who is 17 years younger than Jawaharlal, seven years younger than Madame Pandit. In the January Ladies' Home Journal, Mrs. Hutheesing has produced a charming portrait of herself and her distinguished family. But she is also clear-eyed about what power has done to her brother.

"I have always adored Jawahar," she writes. But "thirty years of struggle and sacrifice have left their mark. Each year has taken away something of the warmth, gaiety and outgoing charm . . . The brown eyes that were ever ready to sparkle at some witty sally often hold an expression now of hard defiance or weary frustration. His face is that of a tired man who seems to be driven by some internal force which never relents, never lets go. His smile today is the smile of a self-possessed man, a polite Prime Minister, fully aware of his power, defying any criticism . . .

"How un-Indian the greatest Indian leader and first Prime Minister is," reflects his sister, telling of his upbringing amid a wealthy family that sent to England for its clothes (Nehru wore European suits until his micros); of Nehru's longstanding passion for chocolate cake, pies and ice-cream sundaes; and of his continuing preference for English friends (like Lord and Lady Mountbatten). "It was Gandhi who once jokingly said, 'When Jawahar talks in his sleep, he speaks in English.'

Anonymous Confession. Mrs. Hutheesing quotes revealingly from an article Nehru wrote anonymously about himself in 1937. Disguising himself in the third person. Nehru wrote: "The most effective pose is one in which there seems to be the least of posing, and Jawahar had learned well to act without the paint and powder of an actor . . . What is behind that mask of his? . . . what will to power? . . . He has the power in him to do great good for India or great injury . . . Men like

Jawahar, with all their capacity for great and good work, are unsafe in a democracy.

He calls himself a democrat and a socialist and no doubt he does so in all earnestness, but every psychologist knows that the mind is, ultimately, slave to the heart . . . A little twist and Nehru might turn dictator, sweeping aside the paraphernalia of a slow-moving democracy . . . Jawahar has all the makings of a dictator in him--vast popularity, a strong will, ability, hardness, an intolerance of others and a certain contempt for the weak and the inefficient . . . In this revolutionary epoch, Caesarism is always at the door. Is it not possible that Jawahar might fancy himself as a Caesar?" Nehru's sister adds her own surprising comment: "Though the above may have been written in a mood of self-confession, much of what he wrote then has been borne out." No Caesars Wanted. Nehru still "admires Britain more than any other nation," Mrs. Hutheesing reports, and respects and admires some Americans. But Nehru thinks Americans are generally "a very rich, childish and naive people, still in their infancy so far as diplomacy goes." Mrs Hutheesing is convinced that power "has not corrupted Jawahar," but "has had the effect of perhaps coarsening him to some extent. He was always inclined to be a little dictatorial . . . but nowadays he brooks no criticism and will not even suffer advice gladly. He is highly conscious of his place in history . . . Jawahar is ambitious for India. Whether his one-man control . . . has made him a benevolent despot is a matter of opinion." Nehru's sister concludes: "In the eyes of the world, he is undoubtedly the only man in India who can guide and control her destiny in these difficult times. Nevertheless, there is danger for him and for India if he is spoiled too much with adulation. In his own words, 'It must be checked. We want no Caesars!' "

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