Indira Gandhi immersing Jawaharlal Nehru's ashes at Sangam in Allahabad on June 8, 1964.
This photograph was taken by V.M. Saluja, Chief Photographer of Patriot. I covered the event for Patriot and he took the pictures which went with the report.
Saluja and I were in one of several small boats the authorities made available to press representatives, who came to cover the event. As many young men jumped into the river to collect flowers and other mementos, Indira Gandhi changed the pre-determined spot for the immersion. As a result, some photographers could not get an ashes immersion picture.
We had travelled to Allahabad on the special train carrying the ashes. The urn containing the ashes was kept in a white-painted compartment with huge glass windows. Milling crowds flowed through the platform at every railway station where the train stopped. Indira Gandhi stood near the window of the compartment, greeting the people with folded hands.
As the train was passing, peasants working in the fields, who could identify it as the Asthi Special with the help of the white coach, could be seen stopping work and standing prayerfully in homage to the departed leader.
The immersion ceremony was in the morning. Late that evening, a friend and I went to the Nehru residence, Anand Bhavan, to see if anything was happening there. The place was quiet. We were told Indira Gandhi and her sons were alone with the housekeepers.
As we were leaving two teenaged girls walked into the Anand Bhavan compound. One of them asked us shyly, "Where is Rajiv?" I told my friend, "The next generation has started looking for its Nehru."
The large number of girls of a certain age group named Indira and boys of a lower age group named Rajiv testify to the influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. I know a family where there is a mother named Indira and son named Rajiv. A very vocal critic of the dynasty, Rajiv has not named his son Rahul. The dynasty's hold on that family is thus coming to an end.
I remember, I had gone near Delhi Shahdara railway station to have a glimpse of the white compartment of the special train carrying the urn for Allahabad. I was looking for its pic.
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