Karan Singh recalls Indira Gandhi's first reaction to Indo-Pak 1971 victory

Indira Gandhi had never looked more elated than she did on an evening in December 1971 when she conveyed the news of surrender of Pakistani forces in East Pakistan to her colleagues, recalls senior Congress leader Karan Singh.

"I was standing very close to her when she had rushed into the hall and announced 'Dhaka has fallen to the Indian Army'," Singh, who was a close aide to Gandhi during the Indo-Pak war of 1971, says.
       
"Now Mrs Gandhi was not a woman who would give away her emotions easily in front of others but that was the first time in my life that I saw her so very excited," he remembers in History Live: Dr Karan Singh, a biographical documentary directed by Suresh Kohli.

The 28-minute documentary was screened on the 10th anniversary of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust on the life and times of Singh, currently president of the ICCR.

Singh recalled contesting from Lucknow as Congress candidate against sitting prime minister AB Vajpayee in 1999.
       
"There has never been a dull moment in politics. I never had one for me...I was asked to contest from Lucknow within a given time of 15 days. I heard (AB) Vajpayee jee had met people in nukkad (street) meetings, something he had never done before," he said.

Kohli, the director said the movie was also a dream for Yasho Rajya Lakshmi, Singh's wife who passed away less than an year back.

"She was very keen that this movie should be made. I started working on this movie five years ago because I was quite influenced by his ideas and his book 'The mountain of Shiva'. It took me almost nine months to make the film," he said.