In A Queen's World

She was the heartbeat of millions. She was a woman of her own making. Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur was the lady of the hour as she brought many changes and lived a life of her own will.

A beauty till the end- Maharani Gayatri Devi; Source: NewsCrab

Fairy tales are stories. That is what mothers tell us when we read about a princess of striking beauty, who got married to a King, did and encouraged good work, and then entered a dark time but soon overcame it. A woman admired by lakhs of people, Rajmata Gayatri Devi was one in a million whose life was not only hers but equally fuelled by thousands of well-wishers and admirers. She came, she saw, and she conquered. It was the fairytale of a lifetime.

If England had their Princess Diana, India’s Jaipur had their Maharani, the princess from the East. Daughter to Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and Maharani Indira Devi, the little Ayesha had royal blood in her veins belonging to two distinct royal families, that of the Coochbehar and Scindia family respectively. Born on 23rd May 1919 in England, a life of drama and suspense awaited her as she was no ordinary princess.

A tomboy in her childhood, the early years of life were spent with her other siblings with whom she had a very loving relationship. While it was her mother, also called Maa Coochbehar whose influence thoroughly shaped her personality, Gayatri Devi was going to make her own future.

With summers spent in Darjeeling and England, attending fancy dress parties and shooting a tiger at 12, it was a royal and glamorous life from her birth itself. It became evident at the outlook itself that there walked the daughter of a queen.

The next chapter of her life was her fairy tale love story with Jaipur’s Maharaja- Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. The royal courting started from her teenage years, and even though he had already married two times and had a considerable age gap with her, it seemed that the Rani had found her Raja. Love letters, hidden telephone calls- she was living her life as seen on a silver screen. With her education at varying places, from Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan to the Alps of Switzerland, the flame of love and longing only kept burning and burning.

It came true when she married her beloved ‘Jai’. A grandiose affair from all aspects, her life was going to become grander when she finally arrived at her in-laws, which mind you, was a palace of one of the wealthiest families. As people ran helter-skelter to catch a glimpse of this beauty, she entered the pink city in a bright red Rajasthani attire. The Rani had finally made her entry.

Even during her time in Jaipur, she was going to set many precedents and live according to her will. With fancy parties at Rambagh’s Lilypool and camping at Ranthambore, there was no keeping the woman inside the four walls of the palace. She might have shocked a few with her modern choices, from wearing trousers and driving a car, but eventually managed to win the heart of most. An expert at Polo, she kept playing alongside her husband who was a known name in the sport.

A great deal of her life was also spent educating the women of Jaipur and other neighbouring villages. Encouraging them to come outside their home and the pardah, she opened many such schools, one of them being the renowned Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls Public School.

It was never going to be monotonous as she again shocked the world with her foray into politics, which in turn started one of the most difficult phases of her life. Joining C. Rajagopalachari’s Swatantra party, she incurred the wrath of the enemy, who was none other than Indira Gandhi of the Congress. A battle of will continued between these two strong women with Indira Gandhi resorting to slander her by calling her a “glass doll”. It started to take a vicious turn after the privy purses were abolished and she and her stepson were sent to prison.

It was also the death of her husband that led to her crumbling as she had to go through the loss of her life companion. Her ties with her family also became loose. She even had to witness the death of her only child, Jagat Singh, whose marriage and separation with the Thai princess still runs headlines and controversies. However, she was a woman who was not going to bend down to the whims of others and kept her head held high.

Passing away on 29th July 2009 from a lung infection, the 90 years of her life was spent gracefully just like the lady she was. Today her stories have become a part of Jaipur’s history. The world remembers fondly their Maharani- Gayatri Devi.