Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru loved books, roses and children. He always tucked a red rose into the front of his kurta.

Because he was so fond of kids, everyone called him Chacha Nehru — Uncle Nehru. On the night India became free, he stood in Parliament and spoke of a 'tryst with destiny'.

Then he rolled up his sleeves and began the huge job of building a modern country, full of new schools, dams, universities and factories where people could learn and work.

Jawaharlal Nehru was born in 1889 in Allahabad and studied in England, where he learned law. Back home he became a close follower of Gandhi and one of the leading figures of the Indian National Congress.

He was jailed many times by the British and used those long prison years to write books like 'The Discovery of India' and 'Glimpses of World History', mostly as letters to his daughter Indira.

On 15 August 1947 he became India's first Prime Minister and served until his death in 1964, still the longest term in Indian history. He believed strongly in parliamentary democracy, a secular state and planned economic development, launching the Five-Year Plans and setting up big steel plants, dams and institutes like the IITs.

In foreign affairs he co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement so that newly free countries could stay independent of the two Cold War superpowers. His birthday, 14 November, is celebrated in India as Children's Day.