Pupul Jayakar

Pupul Jayakar (née Mehta; 11 September 1915 – 29 March 1997) was an Indian cultural activist and writer, best known for her work on the revival of traditional and village arts, handlooms, and handicrafts in post-independence India. According to The New York Times, she was known as "India's 'czarina of culture'", and founded arts festivals that promoted Indian arts in France, Japan, and the United States. She was a friend and biographer to both the Nehru-Gandhi family and J Krishnamurti. Jayakar had a close relationship with three prime ministers: Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi, and she was a close friend of Indira Gandhi. She served as cultural adviser to the latter two, confirming her preeminence in cultural matters. She was also instrumental in conception of the idea of a national school of design (that later became National Institute of Design) after her meeting with Charles and Ray Eames. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan (India's third highest civilian honour) in 1967.

Early life and education Jayakar was born in 1915 at Etawah in the state of United Provinces (later known as Uttar Pradesh). Her mother came from a Gujarati Brahmin family from Surat, where Pupul spent her yearly summer breaks. She had a brother, Kumaril Mehta, and four sisters, Purnima, Premlata, Amarganga and Nandini Mehta. Her father's work took the family to many parts of India, where she got the opportunity to absorb local crafts and traditions early on in life.

At the age of eleven, she went to Banaras (Varanasi), where she studied in a school started by Annie Besant, theosophist, who was also active in the Indian freedom movement. Subsequently, her father got posted to Allahabad, where she first came in contact with the Nehru family at age fifteen, as her father was a friend of Motilal Nehru. Later, she became friends with the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Priyadarshini Nehru (later, Indira Gandhi). On returning home she married Manmohan Jayakar, a barrister, and settled down in Bombay (now Mumbai).

Career After training as a journalist in London, Jayakar applied for a job at The Times of India. Despite being highly educated, she was denied the job for being a woman.

Early on, she became close friends with Indira Gandhi who, on becoming prime minister in 1966, appointed Jayakar as her cultural adviser. She became the executive director and later chair-person, of the Handicrafts and Handloom Corporation of India. From 1974 for three years she chaired the All India Handicrafts Board (AIHB).

Jayakar coauthored the catalogue introduction for a Museum of Modern Art exhibition titled "The Textiles and Ornamental Arts of India" in 1955. In 1982, she was appointed vice-president of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), and remained vice-chairman of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (1985–1989), apart from being the Prime Minister's adviser on heritage and cultural resources. At the request of her friend Indira Gandhi, she along with Martand Singh (textile conservator) founded the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage in 1984.

She died in Mumbai, on 29 March 1997, after a brief illness.

Books Her best known books are her two biographies: J. Krishnamurti: A Biography (1988) and Indira Gandhi: An Intimate Biography (1992). In the latter, Jayakar reveals that her close friend Indira Gandhi had personally expressed to her a premonition of her death in the wake of the Operation Blue Star incident.

Hungryalist Movement When the members of Hungryalist movement were arrested and cases were filed against them, Pupul Jayakar took up the matter with Indira Gandhi as a result of which Shakti Chattopadhyay, Sandipan Chattopadhyay, Binoy Majumdar, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Saileswar Ghosh, Subhash Ghosh, Subo Acharya, Tridib Mitra, Falguni Roy, Basudeb Dasgupta, Subhash Ghose, Abani Dhar were exempted and case was filed against only Malay Roychoudhury as he was the leader of the movement and had become known throughout the literary world. However Malay Roychoudhury was ultimately exonerated by the Kolkata High Court.

Works God is not a full stop: and other stories. Kutub, 1949. Textiles and embroideries of India. Marg Publications, 1956. Textiles and ornaments of India: a selection of designs, with John Irwin. 1972. The Earthen Drum: an introduction to the ritual arts of rural India. National Museum, 1980. The Buddha: a book for the young. Vakils, Feffer & Simons, 1982. What I am: Indira Gandhi in conversation with Pupul Jayakar. Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, 1986 The Earth Mother. Penguin Books, 1989. . Indira Gandhi: an intimate biography. Pantheon Books, 1992. . The children of barren women: essays, investigations, stories. Penguin Books, 1994. . Fire in the mind: dialogues with J. Krishnamurti. Penguin Books, 1995. . J. Krishnamurti: a biography. Penguin Books, 1986. .