Isabel SwamiKannu (Rev.Sr Mary.Stanislas)

Nehru was no less a player in producing bastards. At least one case is very graphically described by M. O. Mathai in his “Reminiscences of the Nehru Age” page 206. Muthai writes: “In the antumn of 1948 ( India became free in 1947 and a great deal of work needed to be done) a young woman from Benares arrived in New Delhi as a sanyasin named Shraddha Mata ( an assumed and not a real name). She was a Sanskrit Scholar well versed in the ancient Indian scriptures and mythology .People including MPs, thronged to her to hear her discourses. Suddenly Shraddha Mata disappeared. In November 1949 a convent in Bangalore sent a decent looking person to Delhi with a bundle of letters. He said One day S. D. Upadhyaya, Nehru’s old employee, brought a letter in Hindi from Shraddha Mata. Nehru gave her an interview in the PM’s House. As her departed, I noticed ( Mathai is speaking here) that she was young, shapely and beautiful. Meetings with her became rather frequent , mostly after Nehru finished his work at night. During one of Nehru’s visits to Lucknow, Shraddha Mata turned up there, and Upadhyaya brought a letter from her as usual . Nehru sent her the reply, and she visited Nehru at midnight…. that a young woman from northern India arrived at the convent a few months ago and gave birth to a baby boy. She refused to divulge her name or give any particulars about herself. She left the convent as soon as she was well enough to move out but left the child behind. She however forgot to take with her a small cloth bundle in which, among other things, several letters in Hindi were found. The Mother superior, who was a foreigner , had the letters examined and was told they were from the Prime Minister. The person, who brought the letters surrendered them,. “I ( Mathai) made discreet inquiries repeatedly about the boy but failed to get a clue about his whereabouts. Convents in such matters are extremely tightlipped and secretive. Had I succeeded in locating the boy. I would have adopted him. He must have grown up as a Catholic Christian blissfully ignorant of who his father was.”