Five Days

Five Days

1989 11 November 7-8 Five Days (694) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad on November 14, 1889, and received his higher education in England. Later in Indian politics, his was the highest position after that of Mahatma Gandhi. When India was set free in 1947, he was elected Prime Minister and held this position till the day of his death. The fame and popularity which he achieved in international as well as in Indian politics were quite extraordinary.

M.J. Akbar writes in a recently published Nehru’s biography: During the final stage of his life, he held a press conference in New Delhi, on May 22, 1964, in his capacity as Prime Minister. The conference was well-attended and many searching questions were put to him. The last question, however, was, as Nehru himself put it, a leading one, Referring to a recent television interview in which Nehru had said that he was not grooming his daughter as his successor, a correspondent asked whether it would not be preferable to settle the question in his lifetime. Reclining in his chair, a smiling Jawaharlal Nehru replied. ‘My life is not going to end so soon. ‘There were more than 300 journalists present. They thumped their desks and cheered. Jawaharlal went off to Dehra Dun for his last holiday after that press conference.1 Just five days after he had made this statement, Jawaharlal Nehru died in New Delhi on May 27, 1964. At the very moment that Pandit Nehru, from the pinnacle of Prime Ministership, was announcing that his life was not going to end so soon”, fate was decreeing the very opposite – that Nehru’s life was going to end very soon. And subsequent events show how destiny’s verdict prevailed over Nehru’s optimism. There are very few people in this world who do not subscribe to the same hopeful idea that life “is not going to end so soon.” Almost everyone, consciously or unconsciously, thinks in the same way. Yet everyone stands at a point where death could very well be just five days away. Or even less. The fact that no one credits this is responsible for the widespread moral laxity and indifference to ethics which are so regrettably prevalent today. People simply do not feel that death is hanging over them, and do not, therefore, see the necessity of mending their ways. If a man who was leading a life of ignorance and rebelliousness knew for certain that his life could not last beyond five days, he would surely seek enlightenment, eschew rebellion and focus his attention on the Almighty. Anyone who had become a leader through lies and deceit would immediately prefer to stand down from the public platform and retire from active life, if he knew that in just five days time, his falsehood would be laid bare in the divine court beyond the grave. Similarly a man who falsely gained possession of another’s wealth, would immediately find his ill-gotten gains the most intolerable burden if he knew that in five days time, his guilt would be exposed, and that he would have to stand trial before his Maker.

1. M.J. Akbar, Nehru: The Making, of India, 1988, p. 581.

All of us are standing on the brink of the grave. But we all think we are a very safe distance away from it. This misconception is the greatest underlying factor in the corruption of today. If we could but rectify it, it would mean the saving of mankind from the most terrible divine retribution.

The Prophet besieged Taif for more than twenty days. When it became difficult for the Muslims to continue with the siege, he ordered them to withdraw. It was then suggested that the Prophet bring down a curse upon the heads of the Thaqeef tribe, but the Prophet merely raised both hands and prayed: “Lord, guide the Thaqeef, and bring them into the fold of Islam.” The Prophet was likewise told of the contumacy and disbelief of the Daus tribe and again it was suggested that he should invoke a curse upon them, but the Prophet’s response was again to pray. “Lord, guide the Daus,” he begged, “and bring them into the told of the faithful.”