20/11/2021
Indira Gandhi in Jammu & Kashmir, during her honeymoon, photographed by her husband Feroze Gandhi.......
After their marriage on 26 March 1942, Feroze and Indira moved into their rented home at 5, Fort Road in Allahabad. Sometime in late May, as the mercury shot up in the Indian plains, the couple set off for a belated honeymoon to Kashmir. There, Sheikh Abdullah was their host. As a good friend of Pandit Nehru, he took it almost as his duty to accompany the newlyweds wherever they would go. It was odd but is true that Sheikh often knocked at the coupleâs door announcing that he âwas ready for breakfast with picnic lunch to followâ. Finding that such intrusions sometimes violated the privacy of the young couple, Indira with all her tact, on one particular occasion, persuaded Sheikh to leave her and Feroze alone.
During their two months stay in Kashmir, both Feroze and Indira found the weather there heavenly and the air bracing. As they drove to Srinagar, they saw the hillside covered with wild flowers while the valley looked carpeted with daises. But more invigorating was their experience to sight âthe mountain peaks surrounding the valley that still had dazzling snowcapsâ. During their trip to Gulmarg, the couple wired to Nehru then at Allahabad: âWish we could send you some cool breeze from hereâ. To this Nehru, knowing how fond Feroze and Indira were of mangoes, responded in a cable reply without any delay: âThanks. But you have no mangoesâ.
Throughout their euphoria in the âlotus landâ, Feroze stayed by Indiraâs side all the time. In Srinagar, their activities included visits to the Mughal Gardens, walk along the banks of Jhelum River and boat rides on the serene waters of the Dal Lake. To it were added short excursions to the mountainsides interspersed by brief shopping visits to the floating market and uptown shops. Giving a graphic description of their holiday after visits to Pahalgam and Sonamarg, Indira wrote to her father (Nehru) on June 3, 1942. âWe are having a glorious time. I am so full of the joy of discovering Kashmirâ.
In another letter, she reported about her four days trek on horseback to the Kolhai Glacier. And when they returned to Srinagar, they spent âthree days on a houseboat- three glorious moonlit nightsâ.
Continuing with their honeymoon, Feroze and Indira now scampered to seclusion. The spot they chose was Mohand Marg, Aurel Steinâs private kingdom. Portraying a pen-picture of her enchantment by the scenic beauty of Mohand Marg, Indira yet again wrote to her father: âTruly if there is a heaven, it must be this. There is nothing in Switzerland to compare with these flower-filled slopes, the sweet-scented breezes, running water that pours over the soul the anodyne of forgetfulness and peace. Since I cannot bottle the beauty of Mohand Marg, I am sending you two little flowers as token; forget-me-not and edelweiss. They both grow in abundance along with anemone, buttercups, Dutch slippers and a host of other so-called Alpine flowersâ.
