(TOP AND ABOVE) Photographs from the book that show Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira riding a nagardola at Poush Mela and Indira (in the middle) and her classmates at a picnic. (Below) The cover, which shows the three Visva-Bharati chancellors

The book opens with a picture of a helicopter whirring down. It ends with a photograph of the path before the Santiniketan Griha, strewn with dry leaves that seem ready to dance with the wind.

The book Three Chancellors, as the title suggests, is about three of Visva-Bharati’s chancellors — former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Set to release on May 8, it explores the relationship between the university and the Nehru-Gandhi family. A fourth chancellor, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has written the preface.

Nilanjan Banerjee, who compiled and edited the book, published by Timeless Books of Delhi (priced Rs 7,000), doesn’t go into personal reminiscences. But the fact that he was born in Santiniketan, studied in Tagore’s school and later at Visva-Bharati gives this serious and well-researched account a warmth and depth of feeling that is touching.

Banerjee explains the idea for the book came to him from a striking 1940s photograph (used on the cover) of the three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family: infant Rajiv in grandfather Nehru’s arms, watched by a smiling Indira in front of Tagore’s house Udayan.

The 421-page book assembles many other rare and never-seen-before documents — some given by Sonia Gandhi, but the majority dug up from the Santiniketan community and the forgotten recesses of the Rabindra-Bhavana archives. The letters, notes, telegrams, cards, scrawls in visitors’ books and convocation-day speeches not only build up a chronological tale of the contributions of the Nehru-Gandhi family to Visva-Bharati’s growth, they are proof of the impact Tagore and his Santiniketan had on the ideas, beliefs and intellectual exposure of the three.

We are reminded of the great determination, passion and unwavering belief that Tagore had in setting up his dream institution.

His wife Mrinalini Devi had sold her ornaments and herself looked after the first batch of students and, as Jawahar and Indira note in their letters, the poet had to ignore age and illness to tour the country with his dance-drama troupe to gather funds for Visva-Bharati.

Visiting Santiniketan for the first time as an inconspicuous member of Gandhiji’s entourage in 1920, Nehru was back in 1934 with Kamala Nehru, nurturing the desire to admit Indira to Visva-Bharati.

Even after Tagore passed away, Nehru continued “to help in the development and growth of Santiniketan and Visva-Bharati which embody Gurudeva’s ideals”. He was instrumental in the adoption of Jana Gana Mana as the National Anthem and also in passing the Visva-Bharati Bill of 1951, giving it the status of a Central university, which solved the financial crisis to some extent, the book notes.

Nehru was chancellor (acharya) from 1949 to his death in 1964, taking a keen interest in everything — from annual convocations to the selection of upacharyas (vice-chancellors), to establishing the much-needed Tagore museum, to designing a master plan for the university; from settling petty disputes to removing bureaucratic hurdles.

Indira studied in Santiniketan for just a year, from 1934 to 1935. Thanks to many beautiful photographs and her letters to her father, we get a feel of the ashram atmosphere and her struggles to adapt to a new regimen — from getting up at 4am, to living without fans, washing one’s clothes, cleaning rooms, wearing khadi saris, attending classes under trees where she had the freedom to choose her own subjects, taking part in festivities, going for class excursions with mastermoshai Nandalal Bose and nagardola (ferris wheel) rides with her father during Poush Mela.

Much later, acharya Indira (she served for two terms, from 1966 to 1978 and from 1982 to 1984) acknowledged the deep influence Tagore and Santiniketan had on her. “I think what I learnt most at Santiniketan was the ability to live quietly within myself, no matter what was happening outside,” she had said.

Rajiv was nominated acharya (from 1985 to his assassination in 1991). He had speeded up the launch of the fast train to Santiniketan, Santiniketan Express, inaugurated the computer centre, initiated the restoration of Ramkinkar Baij’s sculptures, set up a new art gallery, the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, and started the tradition of question hour, to bring free interaction with students.

But during his last visit in 1989, he had expressed unhappiness at the delay in drawing up and implementing a master plan for the development of Santiniketan over the next 20 years.

“The contributions of the three chancellors to the growth and development of Visva-Bharati are phenomenal,” Banerjee says. He rues, however, his “restricted access” to the archives, which had made his research considerably difficult.