CS Academy, Vallipurathanpalayam, Erode Class : XII
English handout The last letter – Pt. a!aharlal "ehru
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After Aft er a succession of letters, Nehru is writing his last letter to his daughter, Indira.
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He begins the letter by quoting Benjamin Disraeli, the great statesman of the nineteenth century: !ther men condemned to e"ile and ca#ti$ity, if they sur$i$e, des#air% the man of letters may rec&on those days as the sweetest of his life.' Nehru doesn(t go to the e"tend of com#aring himself with Benjamin Disraeli but he
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admits admi ts that his life in #riso #risons ns was not $ery sweet though writing and re reading ading hel#ed him during his im#risonment. •
He also admits that he is not not a literary man, nor a historian.
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He feels li&e a dabbler in many things. o
He began with science at college,
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And then too& to law,
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And, after de$elo#ing $arious other interests in life, )nally he ado#ted the #o#ular and widely #ractised #rofession of goal*going in India + the wor& of a #olitician -emember, -emember, goal is an old word for #rison.
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A #rison, with no libraries or reference boo&s at hand, is not the most suitable #lace in which to write on historical subjects yet Nehru reminds Indira of the great history of the world, of India.
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He insists that one should ha$e ha $e sym#athy for the #ast when he learns history. history.
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Nehru e"#lains the im#ortance understanding history this way + to understand a #erson who li$ed long ago, we ha$e to understand his en$ironment, the conditions under which he li$ed, the ideas that )lled his mind. It is absurd for us to judge of #ast #eo#le as if they li$ed now and thought as we do.
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He says, history is not a magic show, but there is #lenty of magic in it for those who ha$e eyes to see.
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It is im#ortant to note he says ne"t + If we loo& u#on #ast history with the eye of sym#athy, the dry bones will )ll u# with esh and blood, and we will see a mighty #rocession of li$ing men and women and children in e$ery age and e$ery country, di/erent from us and yet $ery li&e us, with much the same human $irtues and human failings.
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Here Nehru gi$es a gist of the world history through 0gy#tian, Babylonian and the Indian ci$ili1ations.
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He then mentions the coming of the Aryans to India and their s#reading and conquering.
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He also gi$es a $i$id #icture of the 2hinese ci$ili1ation.
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Islam in India and the 3ughal 0m#ire.
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4he -enaissance of learning and art in western 0uro#e.
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4he disco$ery of America and the sea*routes to the 0ast. 2hristo#her 2olumbus, 5asco De 6ama.
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In$entions of machines, engines, automobiles and the de$elo#ment of ca#italism. -ise of 0uro#e and America.
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4he s#read of industrialism and 0uro#ean domination and im#erialism. 4he British 0m#ire.
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4he wonders of science in the modern world. 7hotogra#hy, $ideogra#hy, medical ad$ancements, etc.
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6reat em#ires ha$e risen and fallen and been forgotten by man for thousands of years, till their remains were dug u# again by #atient e"#lorers8 archaeologists from under the sands that co$ered them, yet many an idea, many a fancy, has sur$i$ed and #ro$ed stronger and more #ersistent than the em#ire.
After this, Nehru mo$es on to the gifts of the #ast% bene)t of learning history.
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All that we ha$e today of culture, ci$ili1ation, science, or &nowledge of some as#ects of the truth, is a gift of the distant or recent #ast to us.
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9e ha$e obligations to our #ast and to our future.
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!ur obligation to the future is greater than those we owe to the #ast because the #ast is #ast and done with, we cannot change it% the future is yet to come, and #erha#s we may be able to sha#e it a little.
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Both, #ast and future betray us. 4he #ast has gi$en us some #art of the truth, the future also hides many as#ects of the truth, and in$ites us to search for them.
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adly, the #ast is often jealous of the future and holds us in a terrible gri#, and we ha$e to struggle with it to get free to face and ad$ance towards the future.
The great lessons that history can teach us.
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History ne$er re#eats itself.
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9e cannot learn anything from history by sla$ishly trying to co#y it, or by e"#ecting it to re#eat itself or remain stagnant.
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9e can learn something from it by loo#ing behind it and trying to disco$er the forces that mo$e it.
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History teaches us of growth and #rogress and of the #ossibility of an in)nite ad$ance for man.
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History has no other way of answering old questions than by #utting new ones.' ;
The past !as a time o$ $aith, %lind, un&uestioning $aith.
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4he wonderful tem#les and mosques and churches of #ast centuries could ne$er ha$e been built but for the o$er#owering faith of the architects and builders and #eo#le generally.
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4he $ery stones that they respect$ully #ut one on to# of the other, or car$ed into beautiful designs, tell us of this faith.
The age o$ 'eason
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!ur age is an age of disillusion, of doubt and uncertainty and questioning.
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9e can no longer acce#t many of the ancient beliefs and customs.
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9e ha$e no more faith in them, in Asia or in 0uro#e or America.
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9e search for new ways, new as#ects of the truth more in harmony with our en$ironment.
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And we question each other and debate and quarrel and e$ol$e any number of isms' and #hiloso#hies.
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>i&e ocrates who questioned in the ancient Athens, we too as& questions but do not get all answers.
(i$e sometimes appears to %e meaningless %ut it is rich and )aried.
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6reat seas 4he mountains
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now and glaciers
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tarlit nights
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4he lo$e of family and friends
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2omradeshi# of wor&ers in a common cause
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3usic and boo&s
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4he em#ire of ideas.
Thoughts and action*
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Being sel)sh, ignoring the #roblems of other #eo#le is not at all desirable. 4hought must lead to action. Action is the end of thought.'
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All thought which does not loo& towards action, is a treachery.'
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If we are the ser$ants of thought, we must be the ser$ants of action.
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7eo#le a$oid action often because they are afraid of the consequences, for action means ris& and danger.
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Danger seems terrible from a distance% it is not too bad if you ha$e a close loo& at it.
+eneral uestions ?.
-hy !as it dicult $or "ehru to !rite a%out history in the prison/ 0o! did "ehru manage to !rite a%out history e)en in the prison/ As a #rison has no libraries and reference boo&s, it is hard to write about history in a #rison. Nehru, ne$ertheless, had had to rely $ery largely on the many note*boo&s which he had accumulated since his )rst im#risonment.
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-hy does "ehru say that he had %een a da%%ler in many things/ Nehru )nds it hard to de)ne his #erson. He began with science at college, and then too& to the law, and, after de$elo#ing $arious other interests in life, )nally he became a nationalist and #olitician whose life under the British was nothing but im#risonment.
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0o! did reading and !riting help "ehru in the prison/ Although not &nown as a writer, Nehru admits that the many years he had s#ent in the prison had been the sweetest in his life. He recalls that reading and writing hel#ed him wonderfully to get through the trials of the #rison life and loneliness along with detachment.
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0o! is the li$e o$ a !riter in prison di1erent $rom the li$e o$ other people in 2en3amin 4israeli5s opinion/ Benjamin Disraeli, the great statesman of the nineteenth century, has written: !ther men condemned to e"ile and ca#ti$ity, if they sur$i$e, des#air% the man of letters may rec&on those days as the sweetest of his life.' By this he says that a writer can ne$er get tired in a #rison because he )nds the #rison a right #lace to write with more #owerful feelings and shar# words.
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-hat induces "ehru to !rite this last letter/ At the end of se$eral long letters, Nehru feels li&e adding a few ourish( lines to
decorate all the other letters so he thin&s of writing another letter as the last, concluding letter. E.
-hat does "ehru call the goal6going pro$ession/ In Nehru(s o#inion, the #rofession of a #olitician calls for im#risonment and torture so gaol*going refers to going to a #rison.
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-hy is it important to loo# upon history !ith sympathy and understanding/ 4o understand a #erson who li$ed long ago, one will ha$e to understand his en$ironment, the conditions under which he li$ed and the ideas that )lled his mind. It is absurd for us to judge of #ast #eo#le as if they li$ed now and thought as we do. 9hen we understand the #ast #eo#le with their limitations, we get a clear understanding about them and our judgment will not be wrong.
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70istory is not a magic sho!, %ut there is plenty o$ magic in it $or those !ho
ha)e
eyes
to
see.8
E9plain.
3any historical e$ents may a##ear to be unbelie$able for #eo#le in the modern time because there ha$e always been heroes and heroism in the #ast. If we loo& u#on #ast history with the eye of sym#athy, the dry bones will )ll u# with esh and blood, and we will see a mighty #arade of li$ing men and women and children in e$ery age and e$ery 1one, di/erent from us and yet $ery li&e us, with much the same human qualities + good and bad. 4hese historical wonders can be a##reciated only by #eo#le who ha$e &een interest in history.
Ans!er in a%out ;; – <; !ords. ?.
How, according to Nehru, is the #resent di/erent from the #ast
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9hile it is im#ortant to understand the #ast, it is more im#ortant to $alue the future. 9hy
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Actions justify thoughts.' 0laborate.
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History is not a magic show, but there is #lenty of magic in it for those who ha$e eyes to see. 0"#lain.
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History, it is said, has many lessons to teach us% and there is another saying that history ne$er re#eats itself. 0"#lain the message con$eyed by the two sayings.
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As a historian, write a #aragra#h based on Nehru(s $iews, on the #ath brea&ing e$ents of the @?st century that ha$e signi)cantly contributed to the growth and #rogress of humanity.
