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Meet Joe Nehru: The Boy You Would Love to Know

Jawaharlal Nehru is known by many names – Pandit Nehru, Chacha Nehru, and so on. Another Nehru you would have loved to know is Joe, the boy from Harrow. As part of our exclusive Hall of Fame series on freedom fighters who studied abroad, BrainGain magazine brings you 11 things you never knew about Pandit Nehru.

BY Skendha Singh | 14-08-2015

Both Gandhi and Nehru had the same alma mater – the Inner Temple, founded in London in 1606.
At the age of thirteen, Nehru became a member of the Theosophical Society. He read Buddhist and Hindu scriptures, and began a lifetime of intellectual discovery.
Until the age of fifteen, Nehru was homeschooled. He was deeply impressed by one of his teachers, an Englishman named Ferdinand T. Brooks, who inspired his love for science and theosophy.
In 1905, Nehru was sent Harrow, one of the oldest and best public schools in England. In spite of the grandeur and the privilege, he had the same initial reaction as any boy – homesickness.
His nickname at Harrow was ‘Joe’ Nehru.
Winston Churchill, the British PM who did everything to avoid giving India independence, was thirteen years Nehru’s senior at Harrow. They became very good friends after 1947.
After Harrow, Nehru enrolled at Trinity College (University of Cambridge) to read for a honours degree in Natural Sciences.
He also joined the Magpie and Strump Debating Society. All members were required to speak at least once during each term. They were fined if they failed to do so. Nehru, however, spoke only once.
The honours degree gave Nehru a chance to study various subjects: physics, geology, and chemistry; he also read economics, literature, history, etc.
After Cambridge, Nehru wanted to study at Oxford. His father, Motilal Nehru, insisted on a law degree. So Nehru was enrolled at the Inner Temple.
In London, Nehru, lived well beyond his means. He went to cricket matches and concerts, liked champagne with his dinner at the Savoy Hotel. In spite of all the money he had, his spending sometimes forced him to pawn his watch and chain.