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is particularly surprising because it is well known that Nehru
struggled to discover the soul of India as no other Indian public
figure did; Gandhiji's struggle was of an altogether different kind,
though it was far more valiant. Nehru was handicapped in a variety
of ways. He did not know Sanskrit, or for that matter, any Indian
language well enough. He did not have direct access to Indian
tradition even by way of folklore since Motilal Nehru had
deliberately Westernized himself and brought up Jawaharlal in a
manner appropriate to an English gentleman. He was educated at Eton
and Harow. Nehru was essentially not a deep thinker. To the extent
he was interested in ideas, he was familiar only with ideas current
in Britain in his impressionable years; Fabian socialism, for
instance.
Above all, he approached India's
past, historical as well as spiritual, through British scholars who
inevitably saw India through their culturally coloured prisms.
Western scholarship was also in its infancy. Much more valuable work
was done when Nehru was too deeply involved in public affairs to
keep track of it. As it happened, the more valuable work was done
when Nehru was too deeply involved in public affairs to keep track
of it. As it happened, the more valuable work was done by French and
German Orientalists who were not accessible to him on account of the
language barrier. Many of us still encounter this difficulty.
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