Shaw is pictured with Pandit Nehru (1889-1964), the Indian nationalist leader who worked for independence and social reform. He became the first prime minister of independent India in 1947, and retained the position until his death.

Shaw saw few visitors but made an exception for Nehru, whom he admired for his involvement in the Indian nationalist movement. Nehru was educated in England, and spent many years as a lawyer in London, where he sampled Fabian socialism and Irish nationalism. Shaw admired Nehru’s rational, yet skeptical, outlook, and his passionate campaign of civil disobedience.