Birthday quote 18th August

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was an Indian diplomat and politician, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, the aunt of Indira Gandhi and the grand-aunt of Rajiv Gandhi, each of whom served as Prime Minister of India. Pandit was sent to London, as India's most important diplomat, after serving as Nehru's envoy to the Soviet Union, the USA and the United Nations. Her time in London offers insights into the wider context of changes in Indo-British relations.

Vijaya Lakshmi's father, Motilal Nehru was a wealthy barrister who served twice as President of the Indian National Congress during the Independence Struggle. Her mother, Swaruprani Thussu was Motilal's second wife, the first having died in child birth.

In 1921 she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit (1893-1944), a successful Maharashtrian barrister from Kathiawad and classical scholar who translated Kalhana's epic history Rajatarangini into English from Sanskrit. Her husband was arrested for his support of Indian independence and died in Lucknow prison in 1944.

She was the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post in pre-independent India. In 1937, she was elected to the provincial legislature of the United Provinces and was designated minister of local self-government and public health. She held the latter post until 1939 and again from 1946 to 1947. In 1946, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces.

Following India's freedom from British occupation in 1947, she entered the diplomatic service and became India's ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1949, the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951, Ireland from 1955 to 1961 (during which time she was also the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom), and Spain from 1958 to 1961. Between 1946 and 1968, she headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations. In 1953, she became the first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly.

In India, she served as Governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964, after which she was elected to the Indian parliament's lower house, Lok Sabha, from Phulpur, her brother's former constituency from 1964 to 1968. Pandit was a harsh critic of her niece, Indira Gandhi's Prime Minister years. Pandit retired from active politics after relations between them soured. She came out of retirement in 1977 to campaign against Indira Gandhi and helped the Janata Dal win the 1977 election.

In 1979, she was appointed the Indian representative to the UN Human Rights Commission, after which she retired from public life. Her writings include The Evolution of India (1958) and The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir (1979).

Born 18th August 1900 in Uttar Pradesh, North-Western Provinces, British Raj
Died 1st December 1990 in Uttar Pradesh, India

Difficulties, opposition, criticism-these things are meant to be overcome, and there is a special joy in facing them and in coming out on top. It is only when there is nothing but praise that life loses its charm and I begin to wonder what I should do about it.

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