Edwina-Nehru affair not always platonic: French author
PARIS: The government’s attempt to censor the film `Indian Summer’ on the Edwina-Nehru affair has drawn flak from French author and philosopher
Catherine Clement, who has written a novel on the romance. The author, whose book `Edwina and Nehru: A Novel’ was published in 1993, said Edwina had admitted that her relationship with Nehru was “mostly platonic”, indicating it was not always so.
Speaking to TOI, 74-year-old Clement pointed out, “Edwina in her letters to Lord Mountbatten has written that her relationship with Nehru was mostly platonic. Mostly, but not always.” Clement, an Indophile with a large collection of books and essays about India and Indians, felt the government’s involvement in the cinematic presentation of the romance was unnecessary.
“Why are people bothered? Both (Edwina and Nehru) were adults and it is a relationship that has been documented through letters and eyewitness accounts. I have myself spoken to close aides of Nehru,” she said, adding that they knew intimate details of the leader’s life.
Recalling the time her book was launched, Clement said she had spoken to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and given her a copy. When asked if it had got Sonia’s nod, Clement said, “She (Sonia) said it was alright to be published. I don’t think she was shocked at all.”
The statement comes close on the heels of I&B ministry’s conditional clearance to Universal Pictures promoted film `Indian Summer’. The film – expected to star Cate Blanchett as Edwina – was cleared with a directive that permission to shoot in India would be given only if changes were made to the script, effectively sanitizing the film of all intimate scenes. The film, based on Alex von Tunzelmann’s book, has since been shelved.
Clement, who plans to launch three books including her memoirs at the Jaipur literary festival – being organized as part of the French festival Bon Jour India later this year – said she empathised with Edwina.
“I could understand Edwina’s situation and how she felt,” Clement said. The author, part of the original feminist movement, said there was nothing shocking about their relationship. “It was not a sex scandal. They were not kissing or claiming their love in public. Edwina visited India only once a year,” she added.
Clement has to her credit books on India like `Le Roman du Taj Mahal’ and `Pour l’amour de L’Inde’. Not only has the author visited India almost every year since 1983 but has been spending time in Haryana village Nandan working on a project for ecological conservation.
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