Neelima Dalmia Adhar, author and novelist, discusses her books and talks about her bitter and complex relationship with her father Ramkrishna Dalmia, a Marwari industrialist, former owner of the Times of India Group, who had six wives and eighteen children. In an exclusive interview with Cine Ink, she reveals that her father, one of the most powerful persons in India, excluded her, the only child among 18, from his will. And, she kept believing that he loved her most, says Ms Dalmia.
Neelima Dalmia thinks only her father Mr. Dalmia could have prevented partition of India since he was so close to Mohd Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, who handed over his Delhi residence, 10 Aurangzeb Road, to Mr Dalmia in 1947.
In a long conversation with Pervaiz Alam, she talks about India’s first prime minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, who never liked Dalmia and got him arrested. She recollects how ownership of The Times Group Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, changed hands and under what circumstances in the 1950s.
According to the TOI: Her book ‘Father Dearest: The Life and Times of R. K. Dalmia’ in 2003, was among bestsellers. She was labelled a daredevil ‘family chronicler’ who had exposed some fiercely guarded secrets.
Her second book, Merchants of Death was published in 2007- a story that exposes the underbelly and duplicity of the perceived-to-be chaste, highly religious and overtly orthodox Marwari society.
The Secret Diary of Kasturba is her third book – a fly-on-the-wall peep into the life of the wife of the Mahatma.
The interview with Neelima Dalmia Adhar was filmed in London’s famous Primrose Hill Park on 22 May 2018.
Love to watch this interview with Neelima.