Anil Shastri, son of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, vividly remembers the legendary leader's last birthday, especially the cutting of a cake resembling a Patton tank used by Pakistani forces against India.
He said the celebrations on October 2, 1965, as compared to Shastri's previous birthday, were much higher as he had emerged as a hero, especially after the India-Pakistan
war.
"I describe him as an honest, sincere, committed, dedicated and a fine gentleman, a brave person and a decisive man," Anil, a Congress leader, said about his father.
Recalling Shastri's last birthday, he said, "Thousands of people from different walks of life had gathered at 10 Janpath, then the prime minister's official residence, to greet my father.