Ode to a President
WHEN K.R. Narayanan was sworn in President of India on July 25, 1997 — about three weeks ahead of the 50th anniversary of independent India — his election to the highest office of the land was hailed as the triumph of what the founding fathers of the country had envisaged for the fledgling nation.
The journey of this man born on the periphery of society with a social disadvantage to the country's most prestigious address is sought to be traced for children by Alaka Shankar in her book Portrait of a President: K.R. Narayanan. Commissioned while he was an occupant of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Shankar's focus is not so much on K.R. Narayanan, the President but KRN, the man.
Borrowing liberally from what his family and close associates have to say for him, and using his own speeches and writings, Shankar's effort is to present to children a person who tasted all the fruits of power yet remained seemingly untouched by it all. In the process, she reveals his mind on India's foreign policy — in particular, relations with China, the U.S. and the United Nations — nationalism and democracy.
Of particular interest is the section "Jawaharlal Nehru, His Mentor" in which Shankar dwells at length on how K.R. Narayanan came in contact with the country's first Prime Minister — courtesy the eminent political scientist, Harold J. Laski — and the special relationship they shared; one to which he remained loyal even when Nehru-bashing was the order of the day.
Portrait of a President: K.R. Narayanan, Alaka Shankar, Children's Book Trust, Rs. 120.
ANITA JOSHUA
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