Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Indian royal, Rajmata of Jaipur, and daughter of the Maharaja of Kuchbeha.
On the island
Eight records
I chose it 'cause it reminds me of a time when I used to hear it quite a lot and I let my imagination fly away with me and I could imagine travelling round the world absolutely free and without a care.
It means a land full of richness, grain, and flowers. And it's a description of Bengal and particularly Kujbaha at the foothills of the Himalayas.
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
I chose it because it's part of a memory of growing up.
Well, again, a part of growing up and a part of those early days before I was married in London in the teens and it was a nice song, and it was a romantic song, and we used to play it a tremendous amount, and it reminded one of different things.
I chose this one because when it came out first I was sent a copy of it, an anonymous present, with a very nice flattering note written on it. And I remembered being so thrilled about this.
I like to have things that remind me of the past. It's a bit nostalgic and time is going by and you look back on your life and all the things you've done.
Whenever I hear it, I think about life. Not necessarily my own, but other people's, and I think that's how nice that people have lived a life, they've made mistakes and all, but they're not embittered about it.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:35Could you endure loneliness [on this desert island]?
Not for very long. I hope somebody rescues me quite soon. But I'm quite used to loneliness, so I could spend [a] couple of weeks, I suppose.
Presenter asks
0:55What does music mean in your life?
Music means quite a lot to me, all different types of music. I play gramophone record on the radio quite often when I'm by myself.
Presenter asks
2:20Where is Cooch Behar?
Kujbaha is in the north east of India, the northeast of Bengal, and very near Assaman, at the foothills of the Himalayas.
Presenter asks
17:08You agreed to marry the Maharaja of Jaipur, but he already had two wives. Was polygamy usual?
In India, it was … until about thirty years ago. And quite a few people had more than one wife.
The keepsakes
Presenter asks
18:21Was there still Purdah [when you got married]?
When I got married, yes … I was brought up without any purder. There was purder in Jaipur, but Jai didn't want me to be in purdah, but there were certain occasions when I didn't appear in public.
Presenter asks
23:53Was [going into politics] a sudden decision, or had this been stirring in your mind for a long time?
No, I'm not at all politically minded, and I never thought that I'd go into politics. … And then sort of around nineteen sixty sixty one … Jakravati Rajagopalachary … started this new party called the Swatantra Party. … And I liked the manifesto of the party, I liked the policies, but I was still not tempted to go into politics. And then they started to knock the walls of Jaipur down. … So I wrote a letter to Pandit Nehru, and he wrote back immediately and he stopped the work. Then I began to think, I said, Well, what harm would it do to join Raja Kopalachari's party and try to help it?
“I stamped my little foot and I said, No, the whole thing, the water and all.”
“I've seen the relationship between a mahaut and his elephant, and as children we used to actually drive the elephants ourselves and ride them, and they were very gentle if treated well.”
“I was a member of parliament for seventeen years. My first election was in nineteen sixty two when I won by that vast majority.”
“I'm sure I could build myself a shelter and um I could practise yoga. And if you practice yoga, you get a lot of strength. You don't need all that much to eat.”