Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Trip down the Nehru residence

My job takes me to places in India that I would normally never think of visiting. One such place was Allahabad, a relatively small town in Uttar Pradesh and it was an eye-opener. During my stay there I had the opportunity to visit "Anand Bhavan". As I approached the huge bugalow which once housed the members of the Nehru family, I was told that I could not take photos inside.As I entered the place, which is now an attraction for people from world over, I could not contain my excitement and felt like a kid in a candy store.I moved from one room to another seeing the grand style in which the Nehru family lived. But the whole experience left me with the feeling that our country could have been a great nation if its leaders worked towards the prosperity of its people.For instance the memorabilia at the Anand Bhavan included Nehru's leather long coat worn by him overseas, his London issued passport, silver cutlery, travel iron (small sized), different designed leather wallets with his name engraved on it, porcelain leg warming equipment, letters written by him to Indira, Bapu's letter to Indira.Why in those days Nehru also had an electric shaver (which was popularized much later)!!!.All the rooms had a high quality and beautifully crafted furniture and loads of books (the size of a library).It was truly like going back in time.The bungalow also had rooms kept for Mahatma Gandhi, study rooms for the Nehrus, Indira's rooms, Congress Committee meeting room.The huge property had a sprawling garden, planetarium and now what is converted into a book store. Seeing all of that made me wonder if the common man in those days had even one of these mentioned items that the Nehrus' possessed.

All in all, it was a thought provoking trip. I would recommend a visit to anyone who comes to Allahabad.