Politics
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Indira Gandhi, against the Himalayas, after signing the Shimla Agreement in Himachal Pradesh, India (1972)
There is always something to be said about the duality of the Indian State. Indira Gandhi, in this image in particular, is the perfect personification of this duality. The Indian State at it’s best is a supremely competent force of nature that bends the laws of man and god, to accomplish it’s agenda in a [Continue Reading]
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Police officer fires warning shots to disperse violent protesters after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is arrested and expelled from Parliament (1978)
After the emergency ended, Indira Gandhi was arrested twice, on different charges. The first time was in 1977, for corruption involving a contract between the ONGC and a French oil company, a case which was dismissed a day later. In 1978, the Parliament voted to expel and imprison Indira Gandhi for breach of privilege and [Continue Reading]
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Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri conducts an aerial inspection of flooded Najafgarh in New Delhi (1964)
In this photo, we see then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, two months into his term, inspecting the extensive flooding near Delhi. In 1964, many suburbs of New Delhi were flooded after a heavy monsoon season. The cause of this flood was an overflowing Sahibi River which could not be contained and caused similar and [Continue Reading]
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President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after signing the Shimla Agreement in Himachal Pradesh (1972)
President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan pays Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India a farewell call after signing the Shimla agreement. The location in of the signing, is Himachal Pradesh’s Raj Bhavan, a colonial era building known as the Barnes Court. Barnes Court, initially the private residence of Sir Edward Barnes, Commander-in-Chief of the British [Continue Reading]
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Maneka Gandhi and her son, Feroze Varun Gandhi, photographed two years after the death of her husband, Sanjay Gandhi (1982)
A photo that captures the continuing sense of loss felt by a grieving mother and son. This photo is taken a mere months after the initial rift began to form between Maneka and Indira Gandhi over the plane crash that took Sanjay Gandhi’s life, culminating in the eviction of Maneka and her son from 1 [Continue Reading]
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Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and wife, Sonia Gandhi, arrive in Delhi after their first state visit to the USSR (1985)
Rajiv Gandhi, early in his term as Prime Minister opted to visit the USSR for his first official state visit. In this photo, he returns to Delhi, jubilant after an extremely successful visit. Rajiv Gandhi and Gorbachev had a close and productive relationship, meeting each other 7 times. Learn more here. Another interesting bit of history [Continue Reading]
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee moments after submitting his resignation as Prime Minister, 13 days after being sworn in (1996)
Most Indian Prime Ministers that we see through their iconic photographs show a distinct personality. With Nehru, the photos show an aristocrat. With Indira Gandhi, the photos radiate a distinct sense of power. With Vajpayee however, the images always show a statesman. This one is no exception, showing a veteran politician taking an extremely bitter [Continue Reading]
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Indira Gandhi with Queen Elizabeth II during the Queen’s second visit to India (1983)
This photo from Queen Elizabeth’s second visit to Independent India stands out, not because of the Queen herself, but because of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, whose subtle side-eye directed at the Queen adds dramatic flair to an otherwise basic photo op. One can only wonder which of the numerous historic infractions of the British [Continue Reading]
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Naveen Patnaik at the Metropolitan Club in New York City celebrating a book release (1985)
Indian political elites before the 90s certainly carried an aristocratic aura, as can be seen by this image. It is a far cry from how regional dynasts present themselves nowadays. Whether this is good or not is certainly a question that merits deeper discussion. This persona of Patnaik is far from the one we are [Continue Reading]
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VP Singh walking in the garden at his residence, with a lone follower (1989)
There is something to be said about the solitude that comes with the post of the Prime Minister, especially when your path to the position is one of coalitions, compromise and not many that truly believe in you. I’m sure that feeling is amplified when it seems almost like the entire country is falling apart [Continue Reading]
