Reminiscences of the Nehru Age

by M.O. Mathai

M.O. Mathai, Nehru's Special Assistant and alter ego between 1946 and 1959, was reputed to be the most powerful man after the Prime Minister during the years that he served Nehru.
Mathai was the only one to know everything about Nehru, most especially the first Prime Minister's private thoughts about Politics, Congress leaders, Bureaucrats, Money, Women, Sex, Alchohol along with much else that attracted his attention off and on.
The author reveals all with much candor and sincerity, and says "Before I started writing this book, I suspended from my mind all personal loyalties of a conventional nature; only my obligation to history remained."
Mathai writes about Nehru's style, Krishna Menon's personal habits, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit's extravagance, Feroze Gandhi's ambitions and Mountbatten's weakness for titles and honors.

This work is a major contribution to modern Indian history as it gives and insider's view of how the powerful often tried to manipulate Nehru for purposes that were not always conductive to nation-building

Genres: History, India, Politics, Biography, Nonfiction, Banned Books

299 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

M.O. Mathai aka 'Mac' was assistant to India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Mathai worked with the United States Army in India before becoming an assistant to Nehru in 1946.
He was a Madras University graduate working in Assam when he wrote to Nehru soon after Nehru's release from prison in 1945, offering his services. Subsequently, Nehru met him in Assam and after some leisurely talks in Nehru's hometown of Allahabad, Nehru asked Mathai to join him as a secretary.

Reviews

[Ashish Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscences of the Nehru Age is a book written by M.O. Mathai about his experiences while working as the private secretary to India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. There are 49 chapters, some on Nehru's work and personal life and some on the people that Mathai met while working with Nehru. The chapter 29 named 'She' has been later withdrawn from the book. And obviously this book was banned by Congress government. So naturally I was curious. I found the book.

The book gives the reader some first hand information on several anecdotes, facts & historical references. It is an engaging read in which Mathai effortlessly takes the reader back in time and narrates his encounters & experiences with different leaders in a very blunt & unforgiving style. Neatly divided into isolated chapters, he speaks out his mind about each leader per chapter. This book gives a snapshot political Indian history from 1946 through 1959.

There is an unverified text floating on the Internet, with credit to Maneka Gandhi, Mrs. Gandhi's younger daughter-in-law. You can get “She” chapter online which is removed from the book. That "She" chapter is available in Scribd website.

Since the book is banned in India. You cant find it anywhere. If you are interested, you can look into archive org or kupdf website.

One will get to understand the dark side of the Indian politics roots and unmasks the culprits behind misleading the nation. Appreciate Mr. Mathai's courage. Read it to satisfy your curious mind. Interesting book.

[Ravi Prakash · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few years ago, an old friend of mine suggested to read some books on Modern Indian Political history to get some shocking facts about the prominent leaders who played great and unforgettable role in the freedom struggle and afterwards in shaping the modern India. As far as I can recall, I can remember two books now, the first was Reminiscences of the Nehru Age by M. O. Mathai and The Intellectuals in India by Nirad C. Chaudhary was the second. A few days ago, I got the link to download the PDF format of this book on Goodreads from an online friend. The book was banned by the then Indian government and even today, it is out of the print. I downloaded and enjoyed the book thoroughly.

The Author

Before taking you in the contents of the book, let me tell you briefly about the author. Mathai was Nehru’s Special Assistant from 1946 to 1959. Erstwhile, he had worked with US Army, in the organization named American Red Cross on the Assam-Burma border region, till the end of 1945. After that, he acted as the ad hoc Personal Secretary of Nehru for thirteen years. Later, he was alleged by some communist leaders for the abuse of power, and so, he resigned in 1959. Though, the allegations couldn’t be proved due to the lack of satisfactory evidences, but he didn’t resume the office again. He was in touch with Nehru till his death on 27 May, 1964. Mathai died in 1981.

The Book

The book has 49 chapters and 5 appendixes in which the Chapter 29 titled as “She” is omitted. As it is quoted in the book- “ …On an intensely personal experience of the author’s, written without inhibition, in D. H. Lawrence’s style, has been withdrawn by the author at the last moment.” First I thought that it might be based on the psycho-analytic treatment of sex or on Oedipus or Electra Complex, and then I read it on internet. Anyone can read the chapter on different blog-sites and websites. The chapter describes the love-affair of Mathai and Indira Gandhi like a B-grade Bollywood movie. I can’t put the stamp of authenticity on the content of the chapter, as I nowhere read any such description about Indira Gandhi. I am not an admirer of hers also. Sources on the Internet say that it was made available by Menka Gandhi. How did she get the access to make it public, from Mathai or from the Publishers, it is unknown. Well, the writing style perfectly matches with Mathai’s, so it won’t be easy for anyone to deny that it’s not written by him.

Apart from this controversial chapter, all the other chapters are also written describing the eminent personalities; merits and demerits of various prominent leaders, in a blatant manner. Mathai hasn’t forgiven anyone for his/her mistakes, malice, ill-motives and sycophancy. Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, the Mounbattens, Sarojni Naidu and her daughters, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, Firoz Gandhi, Vijay Laksmi Pandit, Govind Vallabh Panth, T. T. Krisnamachari, Kamraj, Lal Bahadur Shastri, MorarJi Desai and other leaders as well. He has given five chapters to criticize V. K. Krishna Menon representing him almost the most pompous, schizophrenic, satyr and satanic person of the post-independence era till 1962. Nehru had to be ashamed of his acts, but Menon’s chemistry with Nehru was incomprehensible for many.

For reading more interesting details, go to the link-
https://www.histolit.com/summary-and-...

[Pooja Anand · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can finish this review only in few sentences. Everyone except the author and his boss i.e. Jawaharlal Nehru are corrupt, arrogant, lost, power hungry, naive, stupid, anti-India, anti-social and what not. Only Jawaharlal Nehru was and is the true son of India. Damn, after interesting initial say 10 chapters I started getting irritated....I could sense the course of the chapters....appreciate the PM and say bad things about others. One of the many things I want to say is about Sardar Patel, the author had painted a very bad picture of his....but the truth is had it not been for Patel, India would have not have been there if Nehru's idea of exchanging letters would have continued. Nehru became PM because Gandhi requested Patel to step down....Damn....it makes me furious reading Nehru being made the God and efforts of all others being put in a gutter. And am sure had he written the truth he would have been killed then and there and we would never have come to know about the book. Overall, good to read to know at least few facts

[Yogesh Saxena · Rating 5 out of 5]

GANDHI’S FAMILY TREE WORTH SPENDING 15 MINUTES TO READ
At the very beginning of his book, “The Nehru Dynasty”, astrologer K. N. Rao mentions the names of Jawahar Lal’s father and grandfather. Jawahar Lal’s father was believed to be Moti Lal and Moti Lal’s father was one Gangadhar Nehru. And we all know that Jawahar Lal’s only daughter was Indira Priyadarshini Nehru, Kamala Nehru was her mother, who died in Switzerland of tuberculosis. She was totally against Indira’s proposed marriage with Feroze. Why? No one tells us that Now, who is this Feroze? We are told by many he was the son of the family grocer. The grocer supplied wines etc. to Anand Bhavan, preciously known as Ishrat Manzil, which once belonged to a Muslim lawyer named Mobarak Ali. Moti Lal was earlier an employee of Mobarak Ali. What was the family grocer’s name? One frequently hears that Rajiv Gandhi’s grandfather was Pandit Nehru. But then we all know that everyone has two grandfathers, the paternal and the material grandfather. In fact, the paternal grandfather is deemed to be the more important grandfather in most societies. Why is it then nowhere we find Rajiv Gandhi’s paternal grandfather’s name? It appears that the reason is simply this Rajiv Gandhi’s paternal grandfather was a Muslim gentleman from the Junagadh area of Gujrat. This Muslim grocer by the name of Nawab Khan, had married a Parsi woman after converting her to Islam. This is the source where from the myth of Rajiv being a Parsi was derived. Rajiv’s father Feroze was Feroze Khan before he married Indira, against Kamala Nehru’s wishes. Feroze mother’s family name was Ghandy, often associated with Parsis and this was changed to Gandhi, sometime before his wedding with Indira by an affidavit. The fact of the matter is that (and this fact can be found in many writings) Indira was very lonely. Chased out of the Shantiniketan University by Guru Dev Rabindranath himself for misdemeanor, the lonely girl was an by herself while father Jawahar was busy with polities pretty women and illicit sex; the mother was in hospital. Feroze Khan, the grocer’s son was then in England and he was quite sympathetic to Indira and soon enough she changed her religion, became a Muslim women and married Feroze Khan in a London mosque. Nehru was not happy; Kamala was dead already or dying. The news of this married eventually reached Mohandas Karan Chand Gandhi. Gandhi urgently called Nehru and practically ordered him to ask the young man to change his name from Khan to Gandhi. It had nothing to do with change of religion, from Islam to Hindustan for instance. It was just a case of a change of name by an affidavit. And so Feroze Khan became Feroze Gandhi. The surprising thing is that the apostle of truth, the old man soon to be declared India’s Mahatma and the ‘Father of the Nation’ didn’t mention this game of his in the famous book. ‘My Experiments with Truth’ Why? When they returned to India, a mock ‘Vedic marriage’ was instituted for public consumption. On the subject, writes M. O. Mathai (a longtime private secretary of Nehru) in his renowned (but now suppressed by the GOI) ‘Reminiscences of the Nehru Age’ on page no. 94, second paragraph: “For some inexplicable reason, Nehru allowed the marriage to be performed according to Vedic rited in 1942. An inter-religious and inter-caste marriage Vedic rites at that time was not valid in law. To be legal, it had to be a civil marriage. It’s a known fact that after Rajiv’s birth Indira and Feroze lived separately, but they were not divorced. Feroze used to harass Nehru frequently for money and also interfere in Nehru’s political activities. Nehru got fed up and left instructions not to allow him into the Prime Minister’s residence Trimurthi Bhavan. Mathai writes that the death of Feroze came as a relief to Nehru and Indira. The death of Feroze in 1960 before he could consolidate his own political force, is itself a mystery. Feroze had even planned to remarry. Those who try to keep tabs on our lenders in spite of all the suppressions and deliberate misinformation are aware of the fact that the second son Indira (or Mrs. Feroze Khan) known as Sanjay Gandhi was not the son of Feroze. He was the son of another Moslem gentleman, Mohammad Yunus. Here in passing, we might that the second son was originally named Sanjeev. It rhymed with Rajiv, the elder brother’s name. It was claimed to Sanjeev when he was arrested by the British police in England and his passport impounded, for having stolen a car. Krishna Menon was then India’s High Commissioner in London. He offered to issue another passport to the felon who changed his name to Sanjay. Incidentally, Sanjay’s marriage with the Sikh girl Menaka (now they call her Maneka for Indira Gandhi found the name of Lord Indra’s court dancer rather offensivet) took place quite surprisingly in Mohammad Yunus house in New Delhi. And the marriage with Manaka who was a model (She had modeled for Bombay Dyeing wearing just a towel) was not so ordinary either. Sanjay was notorious in getting unwed young women pregnant. Menaka too was rendered pregnant by Sanjay. It was then that her father. Colonel Anand threatened Sanjay with dire consequences if he did not marry her daughter. And that did the trick. Sanjay married Menaka. It was widely reported in Delhi at the time that Mohammad Yunus was unhappy at the marriage of Sanjay with Menaka; apparently he had wanted to get him married with a Muslim girl of his choice. It was Mohammad Yunus who carried the most when Sanjay died in the plane accident. In Yunus book, ‘Persons, Passions & Polities’ one discovers that baby Sanjay had been circumcised following Islamic custom, although the reason stated was phimosis. It was always believed that Sanjay used to blackmail Indira Gandhi and due to this she used to turn a blind eye when Sanjay Gandhi started to run the country as though if were his personal fiefdom. Was he black mailing her with the secret of who his real father was? When the news of Sanjay’s death reaches Indira Gandhi, the first thing she wanted to know was about the bunch of keys which Sanjay had with him. Nehru was no less a player in producing bastards. At least one case is very graphically described by M. O. Mathai in his “Reminiscences of the Nehru Age” page 206. Muthai writes: “In the antumn of 1948 ( India became free in 1947 and a great deal of work needed to be done) a young woman from Benares arrived in New Delhi as a sanyasin named Shraddha Mata ( an assumed and not a real name). She was a Sanskrit Scholar well versed in the ancient Indian scriptures and mythology .People including MPs, thronged to her to hear her discourses. Suddenly Shraddha Mata disappeared. In November 1949 a convent in Bangalore sent a decent looking person to Delhi with a bundle of letters. He said One day S. D. Upadhyaya, Nehru’s old employee, brought a letter in Hindi from Shraddha Mata. Nehru gave her an interview in the PM’s House. As her departed, I noticed ( Mathai is speaking here) that she was young, shapely and beautiful. Meetings with her became rather frequent , mostly after Nehru finished his work at night. During one of Nehru’s visits to Lucknow, Shraddha Mata turned up there, and Upadhyaya brought a letter from her as usual . Nehru sent her the reply, and she visited Nehru at midnight…. that a young woman from northern India arrived at the convent a few months ago and gave birth to a baby boy. She refused to divulge her name or give any particulars about herself. She left the convent as soon as she was well enough to move out but left the child behind. She however forgot to take with her a small cloth bundle in which, among other things, several letters in Hindi were found. The Mother superior, who was a foreigner , had the letters examined and was told they were from the Prime Minister. The person, who brought the letters surrendered them,. “I ( Mathai) made discreet inquiries repeatedly about the boy but failed to get a clue about his whereabouts. Convents in such matters are extremely tightlipped and secretive. Had I succeeded in locating the boy. I would have adopted him. He must have grown up as a Catholic Christian blissfully ignorant of who his father was.” Coming back to Rajiv Gandhi, we all know now that he changed his so called Paris religion to become a Catholic to marry Sania Maino of Turin, Italy. Rajiv become Roberto. His daughter’s name is Bianca and son’s name is Raul. Quite cleverly the same names are presented to the people of India as Priyanka and Rahul. What is amazing is the extent of our people’s ignorance in such matters. The press conference that Rajiv Gandhi gave in London after taking over as prime minister of India was very informative. In this press conference , Rajiv boasted that he was NOT a Hindu but a Paris Mind you, speaking of the Paris religion, he had no Paris ancestor at all. His grandmother (father’s mother) has turned Muslim after having abandoned the Paris religion to marry Nawab Khan. It is the western press that waged a blitz of misinformation on behalf of Rajiv. From the New York Times to the Los Angles Times and the Washington Post the big guns raised Rajiv to heaven. The children’s encyclopedias recorded that Rajiv was a qualified Mechanical Engineer from the revered University of Cambridge. No doubt US kids are among the most misinformed in the world today. The reality is that in all three years of his tenure at that University Rajiv had not passed a single examination. He had therefore to leave Cambridge without a certificate. Sonia too had the same benevolent treatment. She was stated to be student in Cambridge. Such a description is calculated to mis lead Indian. She was a student in Cambridge all right but not of the University of Cambridge but of one of those fly by night language schools where foreign student come to leave English. Sonia was working as an ‘an pair’ girl in Cambridge and trying to learn English at the same time. And surprise of surprises, Rajiv was even cremated as per vedic rites in full view of India’s public. This is the Nehru dynasty that India worships and now an Italian leads a prestigious national party because of just one qualification – being married into the Nehru family. Maneka Gandhi itself is being accepted by the non-Congress parties not because she was a former model or an animal lover, but for her links to the Nehru family. Saying that an Italian should not lead India will amount to narrow mindedness.

[Raji]

This book is more than Nehru's private life. It contains valuable references to and insights into the events folding just after India's independence.

For a long time I searched for a hard copy of this book. I learnt in the process that it had been banned by the Govt. of India. Naturally, I was curious. My perseverance paid off and for a modest price I was able to download an electronic version of the book.

It is extremely informative and at the same time EXPLOSIVE to say the least. The author, Mr. M. O. Mathai, as Nehru's Special Assistant, was in an exceptional position to first hand see the goings on in the national and international arena. He also admits to a 12 year-long affairs with Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, and the fact that Mr. Nehru was aware of that liaison. Although a kiss-and-tell chapter titled "She" in the book was dropped from publication at the last minute, there is an unverified text floating on the Internet, with credit to Maneka Gandhi, Mrs. Gandhi's younger daughter-in-law. However, there is little of no proof that Mr. Mathai penned those words. For the rest, the author had very little reason, if at all, to publish a scandalous book risking legal ramifications.

The book contains many interesting facts and historic anecdotes. If the mind boggling information contained therein is true, it is unconscionable that the public has been denied access to the facts. Suppression of information only makes the public even more determined. In this electronic age, it is much easier to obtain information and disseminate it to the masses with a simple click. The action of Govt. of India to take such extreme measures-- to prevent circulation of this book-- only supports the author's claims. The reader sees how some able and competent ideologists did not survive the politics to claim their rightful place in running the country. It is an equal shame that early in the emergence of the Republic of India, the corrupt and egotist politicians, who were ill-prepared as administrators, took impulsive, self-serving, near-sighted and ill-advised decisions (or without proper counsel, which often were more for vindictive reasons against their political rivals rather than for the good of the country) that in the process they only caused irreparable damage to India's national security, as well as financial and political viability, not to mention tarnishing her international standing. It took nearly six decades for India to do damage control and to claim her rightful place on the world stage.

Even though the book chronicles one man's views and recollections of events and individuals, which may be colored by his perception of the truth and/or personal biases, it has to be in a great part factual. (In fact, growing up I recall hearing from my parents many incidents or liaisons, which supposedly were public knowledge. Nonetheless the press remained kind to Nehru for the high esteem in which he was held by the public and the media.) A smart man like Mr. Mathai would neither gamble with his reputation nor would he risk libel/slander charges. Most significantly, he was already a man of means when he joined Pt. Nehru in 1946, and did not need regular income to support himself. He served Mr. Nehru during one of the most momentous periods in the Indian History, and long before Mr. Nehru was part of the Government. (In fact, Mr. Mathai joined his staff on Government payroll only reluctantly. His resignation in 1959 was tendered in the aftermath of communist propaganda. Mr. Mathai did not want to make public any of his personal matters. Mr. Nehru knew him well, trusted him implicitly, and was aware of no wrongdoing on Mr. Mathai's part. He, however, did include them in his letter to Mr. Nehru (Appendix III of this book) when requesting termination of his Govt. employment.) Naturally, in his 13-year association with Mr. Nehru, Mr. Mathai had a unique opportunity to see many significant events unfold. No one else knew Nehru as well or as closely as he did. It is fair to say that Mr. Mathai's reminiscences had to do little or nothing with "grinding an axe" against anyone. One exception is the missing Chapter 29, titled "She," allegedly dealing with his 12-year affair with Indira Gandhi. Since the book was published soon after the "Emergency" imposed by Mrs. Gandhi, it is likely, and understandably so, why this chapter (which even though is included in the Table of Contents) was withdrawn before the book went to the printing press. A page with chapter title She is included, with the publisher's note that says: "This chapter on an intensely personal experience of the author's, written without inhibition in the D.H. Lawrence style, has been withdrawn by the author at the last minute. PUBLISHERS" The date is November 1st, 1977.

This book gives a snap shot of major happenings in the history of India from 1946 through 1959. Mr. Mathai's account of major events is very informative. His candid verbal sketches of a number of key players: Lord Mountabtten, Sardar Patel, Govind Vallabh Pant, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu, Rajendra Parsad, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Morarji Desai, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and others are invaluable. The reader is invaluably benefited by an understanding of the events and actors of a crucial time in Indian history and the country's emergence as a republic. His insights, impressions and reminiscences of the noted key figures of the times are interesting for a generation like mine that grew only hearing those names. Even when he jumps between various characters one does not lose the thread. Whenever pertinent, he links an ongoing discussion with an earlier chapter to sort of jog the reader's memory.

Mr. Mathai's writing is crisp. His style of narration is a combination of being matter-of-factly and funny at the same time. He minces no words. In his recollections, he is both poignant and witty. Mr. Mathai's affection and admiration for Mr. Nehru, and his loyalty comes through and through. Mr. Mathai comes across sincere and perhaps that is another factor by that lends credibility to his book.

It is a must-read book for all "inquiring minds." After downloading, I printed a hard copy for the ease of reading, and just could not put it down. Now begins my feverish search for the other banned Mathai book: "My Days with Nehru."

Reminiscences of the Nehru Age by M.O. Mathai




This book is more than Nehru's private life. It contains valuable references to and insights into the events folding just after India's independence.



For a long time I searched for a hard copy of this book. I learnt in the process that it had been banned by the Govt. of India. Naturally, I was curious. My perseverance paid off and for a modest price I was able to download an electronic version of the book.



It is extremely informative and at the same time EXPLOSIVE to say the least. The author, Mr. M. O. Mathai, as Nehru's Special Assistant, was in an exceptional position to first hand see the goings on in the national and international arena. He also admits to a 12 year-long affairs with Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, and the fact that Mr. Nehru was aware of that liaison. Although a kiss-and-tell chapter titled "She" in the book was dropped from publication at the last minute, there is an unverified text floating on the Internet, with credit to Maneka Gandhi, Mrs. Gandhi's younger daughter-in-law. However, there is little of no proof that Mr. Mathai penned those words. For the rest, the author had very little reason, if at all, to publish a scandalous book risking legal ramifications.



The book contains many interesting facts and historic anecdotes. If the mind boggling information contained therein is true, it is unconscionable that the public has been denied access to the facts. Suppression of information only makes the public even more determined. In this electronic age, it is much easier to obtain information and disseminate it to the masses with a simple click. The action of Govt. of India to take such extreme measures-- to prevent circulation of this book-- only supports the author's claims. The reader sees how some able and competent ideologists did not survive the politics to claim their rightful place in running the country. It is an equal shame that early in the emergence of the Republic of India, the corrupt and egotist politicians, who were ill-prepared as administrators, took impulsive, self-serving, near-sighted and ill-advised decisions (or without proper counsel, which often were more for vindictive reasons against their political rivals rather than for the good of the country) that in the process they only caused irreparable damage to India's national security, as well as financial and political viability, not to mention tarnishing her international standing. It took nearly six decades for India to do damage control and to claim her rightful place on the world stage.



Even though the book chronicles one man's views and recollections of events and individuals, which may be colored by his perception of the truth and/or personal biases, it has to be in a great part factual. (In fact, growing up I recall hearing from my parents many incidents or liaisons, which supposedly were public knowledge. Nonetheless the press remained kind to Nehru for the high esteem in which he was held by the public and the media.) A smart man like Mr. Mathai would neither gamble with his reputation nor would he risk libel/slander charges. Most significantly, he was already a man of means when he joined Pt. Nehru in 1946, and did not need regular income to support himself. He served Mr. Nehru during one of the most momentous periods in the Indian History, and long before Mr. Nehru was part of the Government. (In fact, Mr. Mathai joined his staff on Government payroll only reluctantly. His resignation in 1959 was tendered in the aftermath of communist propaganda. Mr. Mathai did not want to make public any of his personal matters. Mr. Nehru knew him well, trusted him implicitly, and was aware of no wrongdoing on Mr. Mathai's part. He, however, did include them in his letter to Mr. Nehru (Appendix III of this book) when requesting termination of his Govt. employment.) Naturally, in his 13-year association with Mr. Nehru, Mr. Mathai had a unique opportunity to see many significant events unfold. No one else knew Nehru as well or as closely as he did. It is fair to say that Mr. Mathai's reminiscences had to do little or nothing with "grinding an axe" against anyone. One exception is the missing Chapter 29, titled "She," allegedly dealing with his 12-year affair with Indira Gandhi. Since the book was published soon after the "Emergency" imposed by Mrs. Gandhi, it is likely, and understandably so, why this chapter (which even though is included in the Table of Contents) was withdrawn before the book went to the printing press. A page with chapter title She is included, with the publisher's note that says: "This chapter on an intensely personal experience of the author's, written without inhibition in the D.H. Lawrence style, has been withdrawn by the author at the last minute. PUBLISHERS" The date is November 1st, 1977.



This book gives a snap shot of major happenings in the history of India from 1946 through 1959. Mr. Mathai's account of major events is very informative. His candid verbal sketches of a number of key players: Lord Mountabtten, Sardar Patel, Govind Vallabh Pant, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu, Rajendra Parsad, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Morarji Desai, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and others are invaluable. The reader is invaluably benefited by an understanding of the events and actors of a crucial time in Indian history and the country's emergence as a republic. His insights, impressions and reminiscences of the noted key figures of the times are interesting for a generation like mine that grew only hearing those names. Even when he jumps between various characters one does not lose the thread. Whenever pertinent, he links an ongoing discussion with an earlier chapter to sort of jog the reader's memory.



Mr. Mathai's writing is crisp. His style of narration is a combination of being matter-of-factly and funny at the same time. He minces no words. In his recollections, he is both poignant and witty. Mr. Mathai's affection and admiration for Mr. Nehru, and his loyalty comes through and through. Mr. Mathai comes across sincere and perhaps that is another factor by that lends credibility to his book.



It is a must-read book for all "inquiring minds." After downloading, I printed a hard copy for the ease of reading, and just could not put it down. Now begins my feverish search for the other banned Mathai book: "My Days with Nehru."



View all my reviews

[RK Kuppala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Indian that grew up learning about the greatness of Nehru, MK Gandhi, Indira etc must read this book. No wonder Indian govt banned this book. Now I must find the other out of print, banned book written by Mr. Mathai.

This book is available as a free download here: http://archive.org/details/Reminiscen...

Why should you read him?

"Before I started writing this book, I suspended from my mind all personal loyalties of a conventional nature: Only my obligation to history remained.

I have made no full-scale assessments of the historic persons with whom I came into close contact. It is for distinguished historians of the future to undertake that task."

That's why.

[Ishani · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to Nehru-Gandhi age, there had always been more than two sides to the same story with no living proof to vouch for anything, making it difficult to assess opinions as biased or unbiased, true or false. The mere fact that this book is still banned in India kind of is my only conviction that the book does contain facts that otherwise are not supposed to be known to public.

Having said this, the main reason for which I wanted to read this book was to get to know the dirts of that age especially on Nehru. But if anything the book does is to highlight everything good that were in Nehru. Even while criticizing Nehru’s stand on Kashmir, Pakistan & China, Mathai did it very mildly so as to not tarnish Nehru in anyway.

Elsewhere in his entire book, Mathai had been very critical of everyone in general and more to anyone who was openly anti Nehru or had different opinion that Nehru. Almost everyone in that category had more or less been depicted like a fool. To some extent understandable, because Mathai of course might have liked or agreed to Nehru on outlook as he had himself approached Nehru to serve him as his assistant that too without payment.

There is almost no criticism to Nehru in this book. Any and all short comings to him had been given through the eyes and quotes of foreign dignitaries, philosophers and authors - never by Mathai himself though I believe he would have got plenty of instances for such. Mathai had attributed many things to many people but it is quite strange that he doesn’t utter a single word to the credibility of Sardar Patel to uniting India during independence.

Mathai’s claim to Nehru’s being non-communal had been repeatedly on the same fact that Nehru, on more than one occasion, had helped people stranded and victims during the post partition riots. Marvelously all of them of a single community. Every mention of communal riots in India post partition had been highlighted as if only one community was the victim - completely ignoring actual reasons.

Many times, Mathai had ridiculed Hindu traditions of monkey and cow worshipping. He had ridiculed many astounding figures except Nehru. One of the reasons could be because he was not directly involved in Government but none the less was more powerful than anybody else in the country. Both Mathai as well as Nehru seemed very inclined to European culture and traditions but Mathai seemed to have known more of India than Nehru. Mathai had been against RSS and Jansangh and about their inclusion to government. But never had he criticized communal politics which had been introduced unopposed, largely, by Nehru & Gandhi.

Coming to Indira, this could have been the only reason for which this book is still banned in India. Unlike other words of his on other characters, we have now first hand experience to say that all his predictions of India under Indira came to be finally true ! But about her, the topics and details are very shattering. Mathai’s prediction about Congress also has come true finally. Of course, he had not lived to see the terrible days Congress faces now and the new leader he talked about, India needs.

Overall, this book also is not completely unbiased. But this is also one of the many sides to the events unfolding and following India.s independence. Plus a few deep dark facts on Nehru-Gandhi family’s which only Mathai could have known.

[Sugan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got attracted to this book only because I learned it was banned in India.

After reading this book now I have different opinion on Political leaders of India. Mathai explains his views on Nehru and the other political leaders of that time in this book. It is interesting to know the personal life of leaders whom we learn in books in schools.

[Naveen Naidu · Rating 4 out of 5]

One will get to understand the dark side of the Indian politics roots and unmasks the culprits behind misleading the nation. Appreciate Mr. Mathai's courage.

[Amar Viswanathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I read this book out of curiosity. I am not sure if I am to believe it completely. However, there might be some truths in it, which are possibly buried in the exaggerations. No human being of power is without flaws. In retrospect, Indians vilify Gandhi and Nehru as much as they beatified them during their times. Claims such as Nehru fathering a child with a sanyasin have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Despite his obvious flaws, the author does have interesting insights about other freedom fighters, especially Rajaji and Patel. I definitely agree with him about Rajaji. Rajaji was a man of dry wit and a wily old fox. If you plan on looking at all viewpoints about Nehru and not just Ramachandra Guha's romanticized versions this book would give an insight into everything that's wrong with the Gandhi family ( Nehru family rather?). But yes take it with a pinch of salt. Written by a man who fell out of favour with his masters.

[Pramod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mathai has collected his life experiences during his tenure in the Government under J.Nehru and penned them into this book. The author does not shy away from positive or negative things about Indian political history and vividly describes quite a bit of revealing information about the following political figures from his time: MK Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Padmaja Naidu, Rajendra Prasad, VK Krishna Menon to name a few. This is definitely a must read for any history buff and one will get to know atleast a part of what really happened during the 1950-60s era. Only pdf copy available as book is banned.

[Dr.Janu Dominic SwamiKannu Nehru · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the sources that provided me with insight to my history which enlightened me to realize who I am, that I am the relative of Jawaharlal Nehru (grand daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru).
Mr. M. O. Mathai's (First Secretary to Jawaharlal Nehru) narrative of his reminiscences of the Nehru Age is interesting and fascinating, a first hand close up/personal view of Jawaharlal Nehru, his views, the people whom he interacted with on a daily basis and that were close to his heart.
A very interesting book that was released only to the public in 2008.

[Sachin Bhatia · Rating 5 out of 5]

M. O. Mathai as Nehru's Principal Assistant occupied quite a position in government and with this book he has honoured his obligation to history. His sources seem to be primary and he has certainly not given opportunity for anyone to doubt them.

The scandals are interesting, but I found M. O. Mathai's personality much more fascinating.

And oh, if you've read my review this far, you should know that this book is banned in India. Interesting? You tell me.

[Bharath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a great overview of leaders in India around Indian independence and post-independence days. The author is also unbiased in taking strong and moral stance in many issues, some of which could be disagreed by many. Overall a great book to read and understand minds of leaders and people in those times.

[Jessina Varghese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book
Personally loved the chapter : Nehru and his surroundings : beautifully written
I think as an Indian it is very important for us to have an insight on the political aspect of our nation and this book has changed my views on the same

[Lasic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book to know what happened behind curtains.

[Bina Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must read for anybody who thought that any other political leader aside from Nehru could have better guided the early politics of India, post-independence. Who better to talk about the then political giants, than a man who worked closely with most of them. The biography comes across as form of truthful (sometimes brutally so) journalism more than anything else.

[Priyanka Dixit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book which gives different perspective towards Nehru, Indira, Morarji Desai, Saradr Patel and Lal Bahadur Shastri.Not sure if these facts provided in these articles or autobiography are true or not, but certainly stirs the mind about leaders of our nation and republic of our country.

[Sarad Pradhan]

Wanna know about Nehru and his sex life. Read it.. written by PA of Nehru, it tells so many things about Nehru and most importantly about his sex life that nobody dares to write now..

[Ajay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book just broaden your perspectives. It will give you answer of how and why.
Read it to know it. I am not surprised why this book was banned by Congress.

[Jitendra Kotai · Rating 3 out of 5]

His relationship had clearly deteriorated by then. These are vengeful ramblings of a former employee. We all feel angry towards our bosses. He has hit below the belt. Some personal relationships have been highlighted by him but there was no need to throw dirt. His personal life was to be spared. These are all conspiracies and assumptions and sometimes there is no evidence to prove claims. If there is no evidence to all that he writes that is pure vengeful ramblings.

[Bugsmcw]

still reading

[Ranjit Bisoyi]

Good

[Manav · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author seems very biased towards Mr. Nehru and always try to justify his actions either by showing him as the victim of circumstances or just because he did not want to disappoint anyone (meek & submissive) because Mr. Nehru had kind heart.
The author also mentioned the shortcomings of all the other influential leaders by giving some examples and make them little in front of Mr. Nehru which is not the actual case. Many leaders were far more intelligent and educated as compared to Mr. Nehru who was only a lower second degree graduate and not a very accomplished & successful lawyer.
The author also himself portrayed as the master of everything, such as people from finance, home ministry, defence and so on came to him for advice and suggestions on delicate matters as if he and Mr. Nehru only knew about everything and rest all were just dumbos and fools. The author also does not provide any information about the Indian partition, Subhash Chandra Bose case, shortfalls of Mr. Nehru's economic policies, defence issues, Mr. Nehru's bad behaviour towards Sardar Patel and after his death the treatment to his daughter Maniben etc. There are various matters where author remained silent did not even touch the subject.
All in all it is an average book which gives information about the then administration system along with some personal affairs and details about Mr. Nehru. and Ms. Indira Gandhi.

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminscenses of the Nehru Age (Hardcover) by M O Mathai- M O Mathai remained Personal Secreatry of Jawaharlal Nehru from 1944 to 1959. This is an important period in the history of independent India. Description of Mahatma Gandhi, Viceroy Moutbatten, Edwina and Ambedkar make intering reading. Comparison between Nehru and Churchill is full of sharp observations about political life of both of them. Meeting with G Bernard Shaw, Rajaji, Dr Rajendra Prasad and Dr Radhakrishnan are about interal politics in constiutent assembly and after formation of Interim Government and Goverment of independent India. Rajkumari Amrti Kaur, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai bind the reader to continue to read until the description is complete. Feroz and Indira Gandhi, National Herald story is factual description which is informative. G D Birla, Sarojini Naidu, Padmaja Naidu are ideal perons who have helped in freedom struggle and have been praised. Political life of Vijay Lakshmi Pandit during has been mentioned. Sardar Patel, Morarji Desai, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and V K Krishna Menon are informative. TTK, Gsovind Ballabh Pant, Lal Bahadur Shastri, kamraj are informative. About books on Nehru by Sarvepalli Gopal has not been appriciated, it is being considered as pure research work without making it interesting reading.Result of classifying a book as Censored - and not available for sale- The above rasons made sale of this book around the world. Pakisan also read it. They found that Lal Bahadur Shastri has been considered as a not a strong decision maker. Thus in 1965 Pakistan planned war with India. Ulitmately Lal Bahadur Shastri proved otherwise and our army reached Lahore border. But this is another story. Political books must be taken as any oher book and lot more policy planning should be done before declaring a book Banned. It just an informative book.

[Hariharan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful and insightful read. The famous personalities are brought to your table for a critical view through Mathai's lens. The chapters are arranged in some vague order, I dont think Mathai gave enough thought.
The book is highly very highly opinionated, narcissistic and is limited to Mathai's interaction missing out many other components. Therefore, this may not be counted as a serious academic reference. But, how many of us want academic correctness ? In fact, the limitation in the previous sentence and highlighted by many are exactly what probably Mathai intended. It is his reminiscences and not a systemic biography of anyone. While Mathai tries to appear unbiased and is largely successful, he doesnt hide it when he has a bias. His affection of Nehru ofcourse made him go light on Nehru, he did not practice the sycophancy of Nehru. On one side he says he didnt interact much with Krishna Menon, but devoted maximum chapters for the latter. He even quoted Nehru's observation that K.M is closer to Mathai. Its not clear how a man like Nehru who is smart and intelligent could be deceived so long by Krishna Menon.
Many anecdotes, even if unverified provide us a good view of an era and time which is often opaque or at least translucent otherwise.

[Param · Rating 3 out of 5]

First encounter with a book that, with each chapter, makes me respect the subject more and the author less. The latter could have done away with the typical Indian uncleish misogyny and quiet self-aggrandising. The rest is a quite clerical recalling of instances and different peoples Mathai finds worthy or unworthy of mentioning. This actually helps in covering a large portion and variety of themes in Nehru's life.

What I did not expect at all even after finishing the book is that, in the public reviews, how people continue to misread the stories and build a misinformed narrative by adding Whatsapp history to it. Mathai also hasn't been exactly not elusive and academic about the context and facts about many observations, conversations, or decisions that he casually mentions.

It'd be better to read this book keeping in mind constantly that this is his version of events, judgements of people, and other background noise as he has perceived them. As usual in personal accounts of historical events, memoir stories can sadly be shrugged off with a "who knows?".

[Israt jalil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn’t fathom the reasons of his anguish towards everyone engaged with the government and the people in power. He has malice towards everyone Ambedkar, Suhrawardy, Gandhi, Menon, Sarojini Naidu, Mountbatten, Churchill, Bernard Shaw, Moraji Desai, Radhakrishnan, Lal Bahadur Shashtri, Buddha no one misses his trajectory of hatred I wonder why? It’s understandable he was ousted from his office or he resigned but does it resulted in giving him the permission to spread malice toward everyone he knows? He wrote this book just to call out every single people in power he had come across. I don't know why he presented those documents here and there and to prove what? And what was the necessity of those documents in line with his writing? I am just pleased that I got the alarm that this type of people exist in this world even in the highest level and the malice they are capable of producing .

[Ananya Ananth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a review of political activities in post and pre independence times. But, it's deeply influenced by the authors believes rather than just facts. A very controversial life of the Neheru, his family, Gandhi and other congress leaders is exposed here. The author has portraying himself as a very honest, powerful, intelligent person. Which is hard for a reader to accept when he writes about it himself. The book also shows how India was governed based on emotional and biased decisions rather than necessary realistic ones. Only for name sake the leaders were educated. All rules were made to favour their need and greed. The government was a weak body who had no one to question them in whatever bad decision they took.

[Mehul Sutariya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suitable title of the book should be "Fault in our early politicians".

This book gives you an insight of all early politicians in neutral way. Slightly focused on negative characteristics but reason is given for that.

Now i know why this book is banned by that government. This book is ticking bomb for congress party if we consider gen X and some millennials.

Gen Z may not judge party based on this book.