Today we visited the former residence of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. The residence is known as the Teen Murti Bhawan, and has been named after the Teen Murti memorial built infront of it. The Bhawan (house) has beautiful gardens and arches. The roses add to the beauty of the house. It is a large estate with beautiful windows and pillars and also faces the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s house). The Bhawan has a large collection of books in all sections of the house, which indicates that Nehru was an avid reader, and loved reading books. The passages had beautiful chandeliers hanging from the rooftop and the rooms were elegant.
The Bhawan has collections of photographs from Nehru’s childhood to his last days. Photographs of freedom fighters revolts, Mahatma Gandhi, newspaper clippings of struggles, everything which gave shape to the India where we live today.
The first written constitution is kept here too. The memorial has records of manuscripts written by Nehru to the future generation, to his daughter and also to his father.
Priceless gifts from many nations to Nehru have also been preserved here. Everything in the building reminds us of Nehru. Though the time in his watch had stopped when he died, but he still lives on. Outside the house there is a message dedicated to all the Indians of the future generation. It talks about his love fro India. From his midnight speech to his collection of books, we saw it all.
After wards we went to Indira Gandhi Memorial. The museum conserves her belongings and a collection of photographs. The memorial was the same bunglow that once served as her residence. The sari which she was wearing on the day she was assassinated is also kept here. The bunglow is modest, furnished simply, with a large collection of books just like the one in her father’s residence (Jawaharlal Nehru). Pictures narrate her life from childhood days to later off-duty relaxation with her children. The house is surrounded by a beautiful garden where she was assassinated by her own bodyguards on 31st Oct 1984. The spot where she was assassinated is enclosed within a glass frame.
The educational trip was a very interesting one, and gave us an opportunity to learn and connect with the past. It helped us to understand history in a more comprehensive way. We hope many such trips will follow in future as well.