Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 and died on October 31, 1984. She was the first woman Prime Minister of India. She was known as the Iron Lady of India. She was one of the able Prime Ministers that India had ever seen. She was Prime Minister of India from January 19, 1966 to March 24, 1977, and again from January 14, 1980 until her assassination on October 31, 1984. She was India`s first and to date only female prime minister. She was the daughter of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and the mother of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Indira Gandhi was one of India`s most remarkable political leaders after independence. She was of no relation to Mahatma Gandhi, but she took on the famous surname when she married Feroze Gandhi.

Indira was born on 1917 as the daughter of Pt Nehru and Kamala Nehru into a very rich and educated family. Almost all the time her father was in jail and at the age of 17, she had to accompany her ailing mother to Switzerland for treatment. Growing up in the sole care of her mother, who was sick and hostile from the Nehru household, Indira right from an early age developed strong protective attitude and a loner personality. Her mother died when she was young and Indira had to suffer the tragedy of loneliness. Indira joined Oxford University and within a year she suffered an attack of pleurisy and had to be admitted to a hospital at Switzerland. She had to face her illness alone with stoic determination.

Her grandfather and father continually being engrossed in national politics also made mixing with her friends difficult. She had conflicts with her father`s sisters, including Vijayalakshmi Pandit, and these continued into the political world. Indira created the Vanara Sena movement for young girls and boys which played a small but an important role in the Indian Independence Movement, conducting protests and flag marches, as well as helping Congress politicians circulate sensitive publications and banned materials. In an often-told story, she smuggled out from her father`s police-watched house an important document in her schoolbag that outlined plans for a major revolutionary initiative in the early 1930s.

She married Feroze Gandhi, a Congress worker against her father`s will. Two sons were born to them- Rajiv and Sanjay. After her father became the Prime Minister, Indira joined him at Delhi as his official hostess and as a legal advisor. At a very early age she was interested in literature, rituals, arts and myth. She was proud of India`s cultural heritage.

When Indira attained puberty there was a transition in her behavior. Earlier she was a child filled with life and energy, playful, mischievous and assertive but in the later stage she became an introvert, hiding her loneliness and hurt. She was a totally lonely child with the death of her loving mother and the imprisonment of her father. She had none to express her feelings as an adolescent. Her aunts and relations in Anand Bhavan did not care of the extraordinary pressures little Indira faced. They wounded her further by making unpleasant remarks on her looks and her intelligence. This made her withdraw further into herself.

During 1959 and 1960, Indira Gandhi and was elected the President of the Indian National Congress. Her term of office was uneventful. She also acted as her father`s chief of staff. Nehru was known as a vocal opponent of favouring relatives and friends, so she did not contest a seat in the 1962 elections. As Jawaharlal Nehru died Indira, at the urgings of the new Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, contested elections and joined the Government, being immediately appointed Minister for Information and Broadcasting. She went to Madras when the riots over Hindi becoming the national language broke out in non-Hindi speaking states of the south.

There she spoke to government officials, eased the anger of community leaders and supervised reconstruction efforts for the affected areas. Shastri and senior Ministers were embarrassed, owing to their lack of such initiative. When the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 broke out, Gandhi was holidaying in the border region of Srinagar. Although warned by the Army that Pakistani insurgents had arrived very close to the city, she refused to move to Jammu or Delhi. She rallied local government and welcomed media attention, in effect reassuring the nation. Indira was selected to be the Prime Minister by the elders of the Congress and on January 1966 she was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India. With the backing of the Syndicate, in a vote of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Gandhi beat Morarji Desai by 355 votes to 169 to become the fifth Prime Minister of India and the first woman to hold that position. A large crowd welcomed her. Indira made considerable progress in the office. When she had imposed emergency for 19 months the country made remarkable economic and industrial progress. This was primarily possible because of the end it had put to strikes in factories, colleges, and universities and the repression of trade and student unions.

In line with a universal slogan on the billboards displaying, Baatein kam, kaam zyada, ("Less talk, more work"), productivity increased and administration became efficient. Tax evasion was reduced by zealous government officials, although corruption remained a major problem. Agricultural and industrial production expanded considerably under Gandhi`s 20-point program, revenues increased, and so did India`s financial standing in the international community. Thus, much of the urban middle class in particular found it worth their while to contain their dissatisfaction with the state of affairs.

However, she was unaware of the dark days she had to face as the Prime Minister of India. She had to travel to distant tribal and rural communities to participate in the revelry of the common people, holding hands with the women, wearing their costumes, laughing with them and joining in their dances. From her childhood, she knew that the rural people of her country had deep inner resources and strength. She saw in them generosity and wisdom which the rich people cant acquire. She considered them as the true sons to the soil.

She was a woman with determination and will power who never feared anything in life. In 1971 millions of refugees from East Pakistan fled to India, seeking security and survival. This was a great peril for India. But she never feared anything and within one year there were not any refugee from East Bengal on India soil. When war was declared and Pakistan faced defeat, the seventh fleet of the American navy sailed into the Indian Ocean. There were rumors that they would help the high officers of the Pakistani army. On addressing one of her most momentous meetings at Ram Lila grounds Indira refused to be intimidated down by this awesome threat to India`s integrity. Facing the vast crowd she made a proud speech, exhorting her countrymen to stand firm. She said loudly and resonantly `We will not yield. We will not retreat a single step.`

She was traumatic when the West Pakistan forces unconditionally surrendered in Bangladesh. At this period of her life she became suspicious of everyone, including her friends. During the years of the Emergency, Indira had lost touch with the rhythm of the nation. The people did not acknowledge her and she had to hear their loud remarks for the first time. People did not gather to welcome her and walked away from her meetings. She was much disappointed and said, `I cannot bear it any more`. They have kept me a prisoner here within these four walls.`

Elections were announced for January 1980. She toured the country vigorously, speaking at small and massive gatherings. Finally Indira had won with majority. Barricades had been put up around and huge crowds were milling around. Vast crowds surged towards her. In their hands were garlands of marigold and roses. Lovingly she stretched out her hands to the people. The faint smile on her lips was unfathomable; her eyes were solemn, questioning herself and the crowd. She had seen ecstasy before, she has also seen anger and turmoil; perhaps she wondered what lay ahead. After a few months tragedy engulfed her with the death of her dear son, Sanjay. The happiness of the victory she enjoyed was shattered. She was crushed and was entrapped in the gloom of tragedy.

In response to the violation of the Golden Temple, on October 31, 1984, around 9.40, two of Indira Gandhi`s own bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh assassinated her in the garden of the Prime Minister`s Residence at No. 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. She was rushed to the hospital and she died on her way to the hospital, in her official car, but was not declared dead until many hours later. She was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where doctors operated her and reportedly removed 31 bullets from her body.The doctors announced Indira`s death at 2.30 p.m. She was brought out from the operation theatre at 8.30 p.m. She had fallen to the bullets, with her eyes widely open, looking directly into the eyes of her assassins. From the street there were cries of anger and lament.

Indira Gandhi was cremated on 3rd November 1984, near Raj Ghat and it was her son Rajiv Gandhi who performed her last rites. The place is now known as Shakti Sthal.