On Independence Day, TOI talks to Gandhi, Bose & Nehru

Jawaha lal
Neh u
(L)
heads
Tele-MANAS
Ce t e
of
Tela ga a,
CLN
Ga dhi
eti ed
f om
t a spo t
dept
as
addl
commissio e

I
class ooms
of
ge e atio s
past,
a
atte da ce
egiste
could
sometimes
sou d
like
a
oll
call
f om
I dia’s
f eedom
moveme t.
Ma y
pa e ts
amed
thei
child e
afte
atio al
he oes.
Today,
those
ames
a e
ha d
to
fi d.
But
you
ca
still
come
ac oss
a
Ga dhi,
Neh u
o
Bose.Take
Hyde abad’s

Jawaha lal
Neh u.
Bo
i
the
1960s
to
f eedom
fighte
a d
Co g ess
membe
Mutteswa a
Rao,
Neh u
says
his
fathe
was
dete mi ed
o
the
ame
of
I dia’s
fi st
PM.
Rao
eached
out
to
him.The
PMO
poi ted
out
Neh u
was
a
su ame
a d
suggested
the
child
be
amed
Jawaha .
But
Rao
was
adama t.”Bei g
Jawaha lal
Neh u,
I
feel,
eeds
commitme t,”
he
says.
He
e cou aged
his
o ly
so
to
joi
the
A my.
“I
sta d
fo
the
cou t y.
I
ca
p oudly
say
my
so
is
a
Majo .”‘Names
b i g
histo y
i to
a
o di a y
life’
My
fathe
i sisted
he
had
a
lette
f om
Neh u
givi g
his
pe missio .
That’s
how
I
became
Jawaha lal
Neh u,”
says
the
ma
who
ow
heads
Tela ga a
govt’s
Tele-MANAS
Ce t e.
Neh u’s
siste ,
Vijayalakshmi
Pa dit,
also
has
a
mode -day
amesake
i
Hyde abad.
She
was
o igi ally
amed
Vijayalakshmi
by
he
mothe .

He
fathe ,
a
f eedom
fighte ,
late
added
Pa dit
to
he
ame
afte
the
o igi al
became
p eside t
of
U ited
Natio s
Ge e al
Assembly.Fo

Subhas
Cha d a
Bose,
a
33-yea -old
employee
of
Nizam’s
I stitute
of
Medical
Scie ces,
the
ame
came
with
expectatio s
f om
childhood.
“Eve yo e
told
me
I
should
ot
do
a ythi g
medioc e
o
bad
because
of
my
ame,”
he
says.
“I
still
feel
that
espo sibility.
I
do ‘t
eve
lie.”
His
fathe
did ‘t
stop
with
o e
famous
ame.

Subhas’
b othe s
a e
amed
Cha d asekha
Azad
a d
Ambedka .The e’s
also
CLN
Ga dhi,
a
eti ed
additio al
commissio e
i
the
t a spo t
depa tme t,
k ow
simply
as
Ga dhi
i
bu eauc atic
ci cles.
“My
fathe
amed
me
afte

Mahatma
Ga dhi
as
suggested
by
ou
eighbou ,
who
was
i
the
A my,”
he
says.
“I
was
always
co scious
of
the
values
associated
with
my
ame.”Socio-political
a alyst
S
Ramak ish a
said:
“Whe
a
child
is
amed
afte
a
histo ical
figu e,
that
memo y
t avels
with
the
pe so .
The
ame
b i gs
histo y
i to
a
o di a y
life.”

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