When Nehru Used To Ask For Pocket Money From His Dad

Transcript

00:00Have you ever messaged your parents,

00:02I'm not doing terribly well at school and I'm also running out of money?

00:05Well, the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,

00:09did so right here in England a hundred years ago.

00:13Nehru was an excellent statesman, a prolific writer,

00:17one of the best speakers of all time.

00:19But he was also a stressed out student once, begging his parents for cash.

00:24When Nehru studied in London and Cambridge in the early 1900s,

00:27things weren't all roses.

00:29In fact, some of his letters sound painfully familiar to students today.

00:34For example, he wrote to his father,

00:36You distressed me greatly by expecting me to get a first.

00:39That is like a 90% in Indian parlance.

00:42Sounds like every student texting their parents before exam results.

00:46And then there's money.

00:47Nehru confessed,

00:48I have been, I'm afraid, very, very extravagant lately.

00:52Could you please send me 150 pounds?

00:54And a shortage of money has become the bane of my existence.

00:57Guess what he spent this money on?

00:59Watching plays.

01:00Yes, even the great Jawaharlal Nehru once had to mail home for cash.

01:05What's even funnier, Nehru never actually liked London.

01:08In one letter, he said he was sick unto death of it and longed to get away.

01:12And yet, ironically, here he is, immortalized in stone,

01:16stuck in the very city he once wanted to escape.

01:19Standing here at Bush House, it's funny and also comforting to know that even leaders like Nehru

01:24once faced exam panic, overdrafts, and uncertainty about the future.

01:29Maybe that's part of the journey.

01:30From struggling student to nation builder.

01:33Even in London, Nehru's times and tales continue to inspire all.