Árdís - 01.01.1954, Síða 64

62
ÁRDÍS
It is not surprising that when the young Nehru daughter mar-
ried in 1921 she chose a scholarly young lawyer, Ranjit Pandit,
who also had been fired with admiration for Ghandi. Indeed so
devoted a follower was he, that ten years of his life were spent in
jail in defence of his principles. His health became so undermined
by this experience that many believe that his untimely death in
1944 was a direct result.
Madame Pandit herself has served three terms also in a British
ja.il. Three daughters were born to this union and they are all
married and living in India. In fact their eldest daughter at one
time served a jail term.
After her husband’s death, Madame Pandit became even more
vitally interested in the welfare of her land and its fight for inde-
pendence. Her zeal has carried her on and on. She became the
first woman cabinet member in the British-supervised Indian Pro-
vincial government. From 1949 -1951 she served as India’s Ambas-
sador to U.S.A. and Mexico. She has been chairman of the Indian
Delegation to the U.N. since 1946. Since the new constitution in
1950 she has been a member of Parliament and as mentioned before
became the 1953 U.N. president.
But what is she like—this rapid-spoken, brown-eyed, olive-
skinned woman who dresses in her native saris. What are her
ideals? For what is she striving? Certainly not self-glory nor for
glorification of womanhood. No! far from it. Her burning desire is
for lasting peace. She looks upon her U.N. presidency as an oppor-
tunity to help ease world tension which keeps people from attaining
lasting peace. Her participation in Ghandi’s non-violent movement
shows how early this tenet became of vital importance to her.
According to one of her daughters, the answer she gave her children
when they asked when would India gain independence so Mother
would not have to go to jail again, was that independence would
come when those fighting for it would be worthy of it. Independ-
ence was important, but that the men and women should always be
honorable, dignified, courteous and free from poison of hatred and
bitterness, was of even greater importance.
Her admiration for Ghandi is boundless. He it was who was
instrumental in freeing women from the yoke of servility and
obscurity they had endured under foreign rule. He gave them a
chance to regain to some degree the importance they had enjoyed