Interview With Maharani Gayatri Devi

[quote:ebbddfbec3]'THEY STILL CALL ME MA'

I met Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje immediately after interviewing Maharani Gayatri Devi. When I mentioned my impression of the stately princess of yesteryear, Vasundhara, royalty in her own right, remarked, 'I hope I don't live to be 85, but if I do, may it be the way she lives.' There cannot be a more apt comment to describe the energy that the former queen of Jaipur, the stunningly beautiful Gayatri Devi encapsulates. It's not easy breaking her reserve though. As I entered her Lilypool home, adjacent to Jaipur's fabled Rambagh Palace at the appointed hour, she was aghast to see a photographer accompanying me. No way would she allow the interiors of her regal residence tobe defiled by the clicks of such an instrument, she firmly declared.

Then she announced she thought I was merely paying a courtesy call and much as she loved reading Darpan on flights, an interview was out of the question. Exasperated, I finally tried the last weapon in my arsenal-Bengali. She glowed. And most of the interview that followed was conducted in her father tongue that's luckily my mother tongue. She relented sufficiently to allow our shaken photographer a few shots at the doorway as she breezed away to attend one of her umpteen daily public engagements. Maharani Gayatri Devi is not just a celebrated beauty; she is a celebration of life itself.... Excerpts from a freewheeling dialogue with Chandan Mitra

Chandan Mitra: Your mother belonged to the Baroda royal family, your father to Cooch Behar in West Bengal, you married into Jaipur's ruling family. Where do you think you belong?

Maharani Gayatri Devi: I have never thought of it this way. But having first come to Jaipur at the age of 14 when my brother was studying at Mayo College and, then, having got married here at 19, the bulk of my life has been spent in and around this city. It was a beautiful city then: Wide boulevards intersecting at rectangles, neatly spaced houses, always freshly painted.

There was hardly much traffic and whatever was there, was rather disciplined. All houses were pink and the Amber Palace was resplendent. HH (His Highness-referring to her late husband Maharaja Jai Singh) was passionate about houses, schools and hospitals. But he insisted on symmetry. Much as I opposed Pandit Nehru's politics, he understood aesthetics. Once, when I was an Opposition MP, they were demolishing a part of the old city's wall. I wrote to Panditji and he got it stopped immediately. Even Indira had some taste. But now see what has happened to Jaipur! It's totally unruly, all building styles have merged, traffic is chaotic, there's so much pollution.

The worst part is nobody listens. They don't even think something wrong is happening. Of course, Jaipur is not the only place that's getting vandalised. Lutyens' Delhi was a beautiful Delhi. Look what they have done to it! You must have been to London. There they have retained the symmetry. Even today you can't build a house that does not conform to the overall architectural style that is laid down. But then what can be expected when Jaipur has been taken over by outsiders-people who don't feel for the city. Even our Chief Ministers and Governors these days come from outside. Who cares for Jaipur any more? I try, but it's a fruitless battle.

CM: Your family handed over the Rambagh Palace to the Taj group. Similarly, other palaces in Rajasthan have been made into hotels. Is it a good thing?

MGD: Well, at least they are being maintained decently by the hotel chains. After we lost our privy purses and privileges, there was no way we could afford the cost of looking after these magnificent buildings. But the hotel people are doing a good job; Rambagh, I think, hasn't changed since we handed it over. Similarly, I can say Umaid Bhavan and Laxmi Vilas in Udaipur are pretty well maintained. But some heritage frescoes are getting ruined. I wish they would do something about preserving them.

CM: When did you last travel to Cooch Behar? How often do you go there? What's the feeling you get on reaching the town you grew up in?

MGD: They still call me Ma there. The elderly ones remember me as Rajkumari. Each time I go, they say, 'Come back Rajkumari, come back to us.' Hundreds of people gather outside the palace to wish me. I went there in February last year; I keep going back. Last time, I visited many villages in the interior areas. Crowds of up to 50,000 gathered and I had to address them. There is a Shiv Mandir in Cooch Behar that we patronise. I have to go back from time to time to perform family responsibilities. I still look after a lot of poor people in Cooch Behar. From my earnings I have earmarked money for such charities.

CM: You were an active politician and won three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. What made you give up?

MGD: Once the Swatantra Party fell apart following Rajaji's (Chakraverti Rajagopalachari) death, I lost whatever interest I had in politics. Actually, I was never a politician as such, being MP enabled me to serve my people. But political standards have been declining steadily. I can't work with today's politicians.

CM: But you won even in 1971 when Indira Gandhi swept the election and most Opposition stalwarts lost...

MGD: Yes, she tried everything to stop me winning. Would you believe it, they systematically deleted the names of most Rajputs from the voters' list? When I went surveying on polling day, people came to me in tears saying their names had been struck off the rolls. HH was no more by then; I felt so angry and helpless but couldn't do anything. Officers said there were orders from Delhi to do this. But still I won, although with a reduced majority. You may have heard, I hold the Guinness Book record for winning with the biggest majority in a parliamentary poll in 1962, when Panditji was in power.

CM: You even had a stand-off with Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament, I read in your memoirs. What was it over?

MGD: I disagreed with Nehru's politics totally. He knew no economics. He was obsessed with the public sector and discouraged the private sector, except for some favourites like the Birlas. I used to be quite agitated about these policies. Rajaji's thinking influenced me because he was fundamentally opposed to the licence-permit raj that Nehru had created. It was Rajaji who brought me into politics and persuaded me to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jaipur. It was during my first term as MP that the China War happened. We lost badly because Nehru's military and diplomatic policies were as big a failure as his economic policy.

It was during the Parliament debate on our debacle in the China War that this so-called stand-off happened. A few days earlier, the Swatantra Party leader, Prof NG Ranga, had said at a meeting of party MPs that Opposition newcomers never seemed to realise the importance of backing up senior leaders in the House while backbench Congress MPs always did that.

That comment stuck in my mind. So when Prof Ranga was making a speech critical of the Government, Panditji interjected saying, "The Professor professes to know more than he does." Congress backbenchers laughed loudly making this comment seem wittier than it was. Somehow, I got up automatically and said, "If you knew anything about anything we would not be in this mess today." Opposition MPs made me repeat the remark because Panditji claimed he had not heard it and the Speaker had ruled it was irrelevant. When I said it a second time, all he said was he would not bandy words with a lady! I got both bouquets and brickbats for the comment. In retrospect, I am not sorry about what I said but wish I had put it in more parliamentary language.

CM: On the subject of your political experiences, you went to jail during the Emergency. What was it like?

MGD: You know, I wasn't arrested immediately unlike the others. But I believed if she (Indira Gandhi) didn't send me to jail, it would be a slur on me. I didn't have to wait too long. I was taken to jail with Bubbles (Bhawani Singh) and spent a good five months at Tihar before I was released for an operation. Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia was with me. Looking back, it was a great experience although while I was there it seemed like eternity. The jail staff was very friendly and almost apologetic about having to keep me in confinement. But we had a wonderful time actually; there was a great deal of bonding between prisoners of the Emergency.

I remember, after dinner every night, we would hear slogans being raised from the male wards. One of them I recall distinctly. It went something like this:

Desh ki billi/ Chhodo Dilli
Jaao Italy/ Hotel chalao

(Bursts into long giggles). Don't ask me why Italy and why hotel chalao. They would raise the slogan and we in the female ward would join the chorus.

Then, I remember, Holi arrived. I invited Rajmata to join some of us to celebrate. We made a cloth doll that was supposed to resemble Indira Gandhi. We set in on fire as Holika the night before Holi.

She (Indira Gandhi) made the mistake of calling elections. But by then, politics had also undergone a dramatic change. The Swatantra Party had collapsed and the Jana Sangh came up in Opposition politics. I was quite at a loss in the changed environment. That's why I refused to contest the election in 1977 although there was so much anger against the Congress that time. I have never had the urge to get back into politics after that.

CM: Do you feel you did a good job as MP for three terms?

MGD: No, I don't think I did anything much. I wish they had something like the MPLADS (MP Local Area Development Scheme) those days. I would have really spent the money on good causes to help the people. I remember some time in 1966 or 67, India was reeling under drought and I had travelled to the villages with HH. At one place, he got down from the car to ask a local trader how much he was selling wheat for. The man told him Rs 18 (per maund) and HH asked how much he bought it for.

The petrified trader replied, honestly, that he got it for Rs 10. HH ordered he must sell it at Rs 10, but the Government would subsidise so that he made a fair profit too. After that encounter, I opened my own fair price shop at Baran, a place that was reeling under drought and people were hungry. I brought food from outside and saw to it that ordinary people got grain at a reasonable price. I think that was one big contribution I made as MP. I also remember fighting for a large number of issues at the Zila Parishad. But it was impossible to win in most cases. In Parliament itself I don't think I did very much except speak on occasion. While I would not claim to have done a lot, I did contribute in my own way.

CM: Do you still keep in touch with your erstwhile voters?

MGD: They don't let me forget it. So, I still have to look into their problems because they come here with their complaints. I can't turn them out, can I? You see, the days when I became MP, they believed in me as part of the raj family. Those days there was no tension between raja and praja. We trusted one another naturally; we looked after one another. They had faith in us and we nurtured them. I was born a princess and came here from outside. But they called me Ma, they elected me MP three times. What more could I want? But things have changed.

CM: I believe your mother was an amazingly independent person. What was she like?

MGD: For one, she was adamant we girls should not have private education and must go to school. Those days women from royal families never stepped out of palaces and had English governesses teaching them. But in Cooch Behar, we had to attend school like ordinary people. I remember having to get up early morning, dress in uniform and get driven to school. She was a fascinating lady with a mind of her own. She left a deep impact on me.

Later, I realised that the British were only interested in providing convent education and there was hardly any opportunity for Indian girls to get modern education in a different environment. That is why I took the initiative to set up MGD (Maharani Gayatri Devi) School. I think that is a lasting contribution I have made.

CM: You are remarkably fit for your age and very active as well. What keeps you occupied these days?

MGD: Oh, lots of things. I have my schools. I attend prize distribution and other such functions. I also coordinate school administration activities. People come to me for admission; I attend to them. The royalties I get from my book I channelise into help for poor people in Cooch Behar and Jaipur. I have my horses that race and I have to tend to them here in Jaipur. As I told you, an MP's responsibilities don't get over after ceasing to be MP. So I visit my past voters from time to time. Then I travel regularly to Mumbai and Kolkata. Recently, I was invited for the centenary of the Calcutta Club. I had to go; after all, my grandfather was its first president! Now with this Arisia diamond range, more work has piled up.

CM: What do you like doing in your spare time? Listen to music, watch movies?

MGD: Oh I have done all that and I don't do anything like that now.

CM: You don't like watching TV or movies?

MGD: No, no. Once in a while, if the kids get something home, may be.

CM: Okay, honestly tell me what's the last movie you watched...

MGD: What was that? This new one, I think it was called something like Kal Ho Na Ho...

(She breaks off to board her Accent and drives away to a public function. Maharani Gayatri Devi, born 1919, was listed among the 10 most beautiful women in the world and would easily qualify as the classiest living woman today, irrespective of age).[/quote:ebbddfbec3]
Source : The Daily Pioneer