Decoding Indira Gandhi: The Iron lady and the green hand

We know Indira Gandhi the polariser.

We didn’t know Indira Gandhi the protector. The prescient environmentalist. The fierce guardian of forests and rivers, migratory birds and corals, Olive Ridley Turtles and black bucks.

We didn’t know, for instance, that Indira wrote to her Pakistan and Afghanistan counterparts as PM asking for safe passage – for Siberian Cranes.

We didn’t know that in 1972, she was the only prime minister in the world other than host Olof Palme to show up at a climate change conference in Stockholm.

These and more were fascinating insights into the softer side of the woman of steel by former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh when he took the Algebra stage to talk of Indira’s green gene. Jairam has authored a new book on Indira’s deeply humane connection with the environment to coincide with her centenary year – invaluable if you want to discover an under-explored facet of a complex leader.

Watch the full conversation above.