THE GREAT WOMAN – MAHARANI GAYATRI DEVI

The charm and elegance of our very own Rajmata is exceptional and will remain etched in our hearts forever. The extremely beautiful woman was an icon of style. She has been counted in ‘The Ten Most Beautiful Women of the World’. Indian women came to know of Chiffon sarees only after Maharani Gayatri Devi wore them. Her pastel French chiffon sarees are still the style staple among royal circles. When Gayatri Devi entered an official meeting in New Delhi once, her expensive french perfume made the babus heady. Every whiff was royalty. Wife of Maharaja of Jaipur, Princess daughter of Raja of Cooch Bihar, grand daughter of Gaekwad of Baroda, it was blue blood all the way. “Her face was like a king’s command, with the swords drawn”. Few in history equal the aura of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. They say it was jealousy that made Indira Gandhi jail her during Emergency
As Maharani, the regal glamour of Gayatri Devi conquered all. As Rajmata, she projected kind benevolence of a graceful aristocrat. People jostled to touch her feet in reverence. And when she was a young Princess, her gutsy abandon charmed every heart. The picture here is indicative. She said she was taught to behave like a Maharani after marrying the Maharaja.
Gayatri Devi became the third Maharani of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Bahadur II. It was a secret love affair. He proposed in the back seat of a bently car as it circled Hyde park of London. The Maharaja’s brother told her before marriage,.”The maharaja likes girls and just because he is marrying you, one must not expect him to give up all his girls.” Gayatri Devi replied that since he was marrying her, “There would be no need for him to have other girls”
The queen of unimaginable wealth had tastes of king size. She imported the first Mercedes-Benz car, owned many Rolls Royces plus an aircraft. Clothes were shopped around the world and sandals ran into hundreds. The jewels and jewellery of a Maharani of Jaipur can be speculated. Vogue magazine called her “a dream in jewels and saree”. She also rode horses smartly and played fine polo. A huntress and a good shot who got her first panther before turning 13. She swept into Parliament with a landslide written in the Guiness book of records.
She said in an interview;
“I have had a very happy life. I have no regrets. I’m not a nostalgic person. I live in the present. I just try to do what I can, when I see unhappiness around me. Why grumble about things that don’t go your way. Make the most of life. Don’t make me sound arrogant or extraordinary”
She bacame a widow at 51. During her last illness at 90 in a London hospital, she wished to die in Jaipur. An air ambulance brought her home for the end.
Figures like Maharani Gayatri Devi do not come every day.