M. O. Mathai

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'''M.O. Mathai''' (Mundapallil Oommen Mathai) (1909–28 August 1981<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/31/obituaries/mo-mathai-a-top-official-in-india-during-nehru-s-rule.html|title=M.O. Mathai, a Top Official In India During Nehru's Rule|last=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=1981-08-31|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2020-01-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>) was the Private Secretary to India's first Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. He is primarily famed for his memoirs in ''Reminiscences of the Nehru Age'' (1978) and ''My Days with Nehru'' (1979).

== Early life ==
Mathai (Mundappallil Oommen Mathai) was born to a traditional Marthoma Syrian Christian family in central Travancore.

== Career ==
Mathai used to work for the [[United States Army]] in India, before becoming the Private Secretary to Nehru in 1946.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/420018398|title=Ottawa Social Notes|date=24 October 1949|work=[[Montreal Gazette]]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=18}}</ref> He resigned from his post in 1959, after the Communists accused him of misusing his power to commit financial fraud.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259595049|title=Nehru's secretary answers attack by Communists|last=Special Correspondent|date=17 January 1959|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=8 January 2020}}</ref>

One of Mathai's letters (UO No D/S13170 of 2 December 1954) dug out by the Delhi-based non-profit trust [[Mission Netaji]] had become controversial in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2007/mar/08netaji.htm|title=Netaji's ashes still in Japan temple: MEA|website=www.rediff.com|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> The letter indicated that the ashes of Netaji [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] were received in India in the 1950s. This information is contradictory to the Indian government's opinion that Bose's ashes are kept in [[Renkoji temple]] in Japan.

==Books==
===Reminiscences of the Nehru Age===
Mathai wrote the book about his experiences as the private secretary to Jawaharlal Nehru, in the brief span when the Janata alliance ousted Indira Gandhi from the Union Government.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/819697/time-to-lift-the-ban-on-what-nehrus-aide-wrote-about-him-and-his-contemporaries|title=Time to lift the ban on what Nehru’s aide wrote about him and his contemporaries?|last=KK|first=Satyavrat|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/19780228-book-review-reminiscences-of-the-nehru-age-by-m.o.-mathai-822868-2014-05-01|title=Book review: Reminiscences of the Nehru Age by M.O. Mathai|last=Joshi|first=Chand|date=28 February 1978|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> The book has a total 49 chapters, some on Nehru's work and personal life and some on the various people that Mathai met.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1150922/jsp/frontpage/story_43908.jsp|title='A chapter' with Indira|date=22 September 2015|work=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)]]|access-date=9 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/258444237/|title=Nehru and The Lady|last=Akbar|first=M.J.|date=18 December 1988|work=[[The Observer]]|access-date=2020-01-08|page=32|language=en|author-link=M. J. Akbar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/121104866|title=Nehru and the in-built system of poverty|last=Grant|first=Bruce|date=12 July 1980|work=[[The Age]]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=25|author-link=Bruce Grant (writer)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/471302090|title=Himself|last=Newsweek International|author-link=Newsweek International|date=8 February 1978|work=[[Edmonton Journal]]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/437199908|title=Mountbatten Biography Alleges Lady-Nehru Affair|last=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=28 August 1980|work=[[The Victoria Advocate]]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=25}}</ref>

The book ended up being banned, shortly after publication; the ban was mostly due to his details of the various sexual encounters and affairs the Gandhi family had outside marriage.<ref name=":4" />

==== Chapter 29 ====
The chapter 29 named 'She' was blanked and a note was appended in place.<ref name=":1" /> The contents of the chapter has since birthed intense speculations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/a-missing-but-not-closed-chapter-in-the-life-of-indira/story-NsxA3Lw0MzvBfihZIM5XwJ.html|title=A missing but not closed chapter in the life of Indira|date=27 September 2015|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref> [[T. V. Rajeswar|T V Rajeswar]], former chief of [[Intelligence Bureau (India)|Intelligence Bureau]] has since claimed of receiving a copy of the chapter from [[M. G. Ramachandran]] and duly submitting to then-Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]]; he claims to have not read the contents.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />

==== Controversy ====
The banned chapter contained expose about the multiple affairs Indira Gandhi had with other people and the Gandhi family in general.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/2UkasJhFumT0Dyapf417BO/The-escapades-of-Indira-Gandhi-the-romance-of-Roger-Fed.html|title=The ‘escapades’ of Indira Gandhi, the ‘romance’ of Roger Federer|last=Assisi|first=Charles|date=2017-07-16|website=Livemint|language=en|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathai, M. O.}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Kerala]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biographers]]
[[Category:People of the Kingdom of Travancore]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographers]]

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M. O. Mathai