From ‘Close Encounters’ by M V Kamath

 

 

In course of covering these meetings I have met, conversed with, exchanged jokes with practically every President and Prime Minister world over. I had one of the most engaging conversations on, of all things, Indian curries - believe it or not - with Stalin's foreign minister Molotov.

 

Jawaharlal was known to be particularly snooty. He had no use for mere reporters, especially the Indian variety. He would be available to foreign (white) correspondents as I was later to know more painfully in 1956 but not to Indians

 

Dr. Ambedkar……… had some awful things to say about the Free Press Journal ……. said some uncharitable and unprintable things about Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru and then he lit up on me in no uncertain terms..

 

One, never let go a chance to talk to a celebrity, even at the risk of being snubbed. Two, never pretend to be knowledgeable. If you don't know something, admit to the fact. Never pretend to knowledge you don't have. The real expert would always be willing to enlighten the ignorant. Three, pay respectful attention to the one person in front of you.

 

…….a brilliant Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Col Fitzpatrick whose tribute to Gandhiji on his assassination remains one of the finest pieces of drawing, even beating Bill Maudlin’s cartoon on assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

 

The interview went off well. I had never met Krishna Menon before. I was taken aback by his haughtiness. It was as if he was bestowing a favor on me by the very act of answering my questions…….. Menon behaved like a petulent child……… He wanted to be considered as someone special….. I could not fathom Menon. He was a different kind of Indian who had lived all his adult life in Britain and had his ups and downs. He was probably more at peace with the British than his own countrymen.

I had heard a good deal about him, how he fought for India's independence in his own way through the India League, how he lived a frugal, even ascetic life, how he often went out of his way to help Indian students stranded in London etc. etc. and I was full of admiration for him……… Intellectual arrogance is something hard to put up with. And that seemed to be Menon’s main fault.

 

One may say anything about Morarji Desai, but he appreciates a person who stands up to him and is truthful.

 

Mr M.C. Chagla…….. was a man of guts though not always distinguished for diplomacy. He reminded Pakistanis that when they attacked Hindus, they were attacking their own ancestors, since many of them were converts. That could not have gone down well with Muslims in Pakistan. He refused to go to the mosque to pray in Malaysia, insisting that he did not believe in such matters. That embarrassed the Government of India, but Chagla was not the one to be a token Muslim - in any cabinet. He asserted his right to have his own views on religion and religious observances and was not to be browbeaten either by the government or by the press to play the role of compliant Muslim.

 

One predominant trait in Bhutto was his discomfort when challenged. He was not accustomed to being questioned by anyone - least of all by an Indian correspondent. What he said had to be accepted as indisputable truth.

 

Kissinger is a third rate diplomat, his smartness vastly overvalued. He has given a lame excuse for calling Indians bastards saying that this was done at the height of the Cold War. He is a sycophant……. A man utterly without any principles, he was the right man to work for Nixon whose devotion to principles was even less.

 

The Nehrus must have lived under the belief that they are above most of us ordinary human beings………..

 

I have fond memories of justice Hidayatullah. In my galaxy of truly noble men he is one of the brightest stars.