Remembering Gayatri Devi
Life may end with sighs of sadness, with a feeling of irreperable loss. But there are some things which never pass away...there are some things that always stay on, live on forever. Gayatri Devi's image lingers on like that.
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A Princess is born: Charismatic Jaipur royal Rajmata Gayatri Devi, a three-time MP died on July 29, 2009, following a prolonged illness. She was 90.
She was a rare combination of international glamour and political courage - a social eminence who counted the Queen of England, Jackie Onassis and Mick Jagger as personal friends. (NDTV PHOTO) -
A life led by choice and courage: Educated in Shantiniketan and later in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she travelled with her mother and siblings. She had adventurous trips with her elegant mother, the Maharani Indira Devi, to London and other European countries. Gayatri Devi fell in love with the twice-married and a dashing polo-playing last Maharaja of Jaipur as a teenager and defied family convention to become his third wife in 1940. (NDTV PHOTO)
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Adorned in elegance, painted in beauty: An ardent sportswoman she set a personal example as horse rider and tennis player with a worldly image as the wife of a star polo player and among the ten most beautiful women in the world. Gayatri Devi was listed by Vogue as one of the world's most beautiful women and was a favourite of society columnists and photographers. (AFP PHOTO)
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For a noble purpose: Moving to tradition-bound Jaipur, she worked tirelessly to abolish purdah for women and established educational institutions such as the Maharani Gayatri Devi School in Jaipur. Credited with working for women's emancipation Rajmata Gayatri Devi was also a member of Parliament from Jaipur. She also promoted the dying art of blue pottery. (NDTV PHOTO)
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Royalty personified: The Jaipur royal family lived a lavish life: hunting in forests, spending summers in Europe, educating the royal children at elite schools in England, entertaining streams of famous visitors at their desert palaces, and generally living the typically flamboyant life which was normal for Indian royals. Here, in this file photo taken on January 26, 1961, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (centre), stands with Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. The Queen's husband Prince Philip stands on the far left, posing with a tiger killed by him. The royal couple was invited for hunting during their official visit to India. (AFP PHOTO)
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And then came politics...: In 1962 she entered politics and contested the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat, and won an astounding majority to become the Lok Sabha representative. (She still holds the Guiness record for this electoral majority - 192909 votes out of 246516 cast). She won the seat again in 1967 and 1971 from the Swatantra party, running against the Congress Party. (AFP Photo)
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Scrolled imprints: Her memoirs 'A Princess Remembers' published in 1976 became a worldwide bestseller. Although plagued by Jaipur's royal family feuds in later years, Gayatri Devi concentrated on her philanthrophic projects in Jaipur and was active as a prominent social figure on the international polo circuit. (NDTV PHOTO)
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The Maharani dies: She breathed her last at Satokben Durlabh Memorial Hospital where she was readmitted for a chest infection. After she became ill in London where she was spending her summers, the former Rajmata had expressed a desire to be brought back to Jaipur. Doctors at the Jaipur hospital performed an endoscopoy in her intestines which were diagnosed to have a blockage. (NDTV PHOTO)
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Last journey: The body of the former queen of Jaipur, Gayatri Devi, wrapped in Indian tricolor, is carried for cremation in Jaipur. Gayatri Devi, who was often described as one of the most beautiful women in the world, died when she was 90. She was born into the royal family of Cooch Behar on May 23, 1919, decades before the partition of India that heralded the demise of royalty. (PTI)
