‘The light will never go out’: Gandhi’s grandson in Bengaluru lit fest

At the Bangalore Literature Festival on Sunday, writer and diplomat Gopalkrishna Gandhi joined novelist Keshava Guha for a reflective conversation on the “light” that still guides the country. The discussion was based on Gandhi’s new book, titled ‘The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India’. 

Speaking about the title, Gandhi said he had Jawaharlal Nehru’s words on the night of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in mind when he chose it. “Nehru said the light had gone out of our lives,” he recalled, while several camera lights were on his face. “But I feel the light will never go out.” 

Guha described the book as a record of India’s “first republic,” while saying “we are currently living in the “second republic,” with continuity in the nation’s population and culture”. 

Discussing the different personalities mentioned in Gandhi’s book, Guha brought the focus to Gandhi’s “other” grandfather, C Rajagopalachari, and asked him about his influence. 

While Gandhi wittily said that “this book is not about the jis” (referring to Panditji, Gandhiji and Rajaji), he acknowledged that Rajaji was crucial to the book and “the founding years of our republic”. He said Rajaji bore no resentment or bitterness “towards the early regime” and appreciated the administrative structures India inherited. 

Gandhi also recalled his maternal grandfather’s warning about future elections, saying, “Elections and their corruption will make life hell for us”. 

Rajaji had added that a time may come when Indians might look back at the British Raj as an era “where good officers gave us good governance and were largely free of corruption”. 

When asked about joining the civil service despite his lineage, Gandhi resisted making the conversation “too personal,” yet said that young people should take the exam. 

Gandhi also spoke at length about Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), calling him “one of the few who kept an independent intellect,” despite his admiration for the Mahatma and Nehru. 

Politics, Indian presidents on not contesting elections, Gandhi joked that he was a “wimp”. However, he had worked closely with former presidents. 

On Guha’s question about what the country’s president’s role should be, Gandhi recalled former president K R Narayanan’s response in an interview, that “the president has no authority but immense influence, and that the influence must accord with public opinion when it is right”. 

He also reflected on former president A P J Abdul Kalam’s enduring popularity. He added that he did “not know why and how,” but something about Kalam touched Indian hearts. 

The session ended with questions on the presidency and concluded with Gandhi pointing out that the country should be “open to criticism and have critics who are open to self-criticism”.