India's Prime Ministers' private lives explored in new book

The book ‘The Prime Minister’s Table: Delicacies & Diplomacies from the Era of Nehru to Modi’, authored by Purabi Shridhar and Sanghita Singh, explores the personal lives and culinary habits of India’s leaders. Through extensive interviews with family members, staff, and surviving former Prime Ministers, the authors use the kitchen table as a lens to examine the private personas of these political figures.

The work covers a wide historical range, from the era of Jawaharlal Nehru to the current administration of Narendra Modi. It touches upon various personal aspects, such as Indira Gandhi’s spirituality and the familial roles of leaders like Gujral. While the book attempts to humanize these figures by suggesting they were ‘just like us’, the review notes that the immense power held by these individuals creates a fundamental distinction between them and the general public.