NATION BUILDER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (1889–1964)

As the country’s first prime minister, Nehru shaped India’s ‘tryst with destiny’, steeped in the socialist and secularist ideals of his time

- SHASHI THAROOR

When Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India’s first prime minister, died in 1964, his legacy to the nation and the world seemed secure. A towering figure in national politics and on the international stage, the reflective, mercurial Nehru—in innumerable books and speeches, and in his conduct as prime minister—developed and articulated a worldview that embodied the aspirations of his generation, of his country and (many believed) of the developing post-colonial world.