Krishna Hutheesing

Krishna Hutheesing meeting David Ben-Gurion (the first Prime Minister of Israel) in Israel, 1958

Krishna Nehru Hutheesing (1907–1967) was an Indian writer, the youngest sister of Jawaharlal Nehru[1] and Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, and part of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Biography

The family of Motilal Nehru, who is seated in the center. Standing (L to R) Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Krishna Hutheesing, Indira Gandhi and Ranjit Pandit; Seated: Swaroop Rani, Motilal Nehru and Kamala Nehru (circa 1927).

Born Krishna Nehru, in Mirganj, Allahabad to Motilal Nehru, an Indian independence activist and leader of the Indian National Congress, and Swarup Rani, she was married to Gunottam (Raja) Hutheesing, who belonged to a prominent Ahmedabad jain family that built the Hutheesing Jain Temple.[2] Gunottam Hutheesing was well known in India's elite social circles and was a household name in India throughout most of the 20th century. During the later 1950s, he became anti-Nehru and in 1959, supported former Governor General C. Rajagopalachari, to form a conservative political party known as the Swatantra Party.[3]

She and her husband fought for India's independence and spent a great deal of time in jail while raising their two young sons, Harsha Hutheesing and Ajit Hutheesing. Ajit, a leading Wall Street venture capitalist, was married to the American violinist Helen Armstrong from 1996 till her demise in 2006. Indira's older son, Rajiv Gandhi, was born in Bombay in the household of the Hutheesings at 20 Carmichael Road. The building, a grand mansion block, through sheer coincidence, was also Anand Bhavan, the namesake of the Nehrus' ancestral mansion in Allahabad. (The Anand Bhavan building in Bombay was demolished some years back for a high-rise.)

In late May 1958 she spent three days in Israel. Her host was Yigal Alon, who a year earlier founded 'The Israel-India Friendship League' as a tool to circumvent the then Indian government policy to avoid direct diplomatic relations between the two states.

Mrs. Hutheesing documented her life as well as the lives of her brother, Jawaharlal and her niece, Indira Gandhi, in a series of books that intertwine history with personal anecdotes including We Nehrus, With No Regrets, Nehru's Letters to His Sister and Dear to Behold.

Her husband, Raja Hutheesing, also wrote books: The Great Peace: An Asian's Candid Report on Red China (1953), Window on China (1953), and Tibet fights for freedom : the story of the March 1959 uprising (1960).

She was associated with the 'Voice of America' and gave several talks. She died in Washington D C in 1967.

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Sister of Nehru Arrives For U.S. Lecture Tour New York Times, 14 January 1947.
  2. ↑ Raja Hutheesingh might have..The Tiger Rider Time, 19 May 1958.
  3. ↑ A Rise of Voices Time, 6 July 1959.
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