I had accumulated almost four years of earned leave but had not been able toavail of it because of exigencies of service. So in December 1972, Iproceeded on this leave preparatory to retirement after completion of 35years of service. I decided to lead a quiet, peaceful, retired life in theValley of Kashmir in summer, away from the din and dust of big cities. Ibuilt a small log cabin at village Aru in Kashmir, beyond Pehalgam, where myson had already constructed a beautiful cottage on the banks of the Liddarriver. M,y son and I also planted a small orchard and built a little hut inthe middle Himalayas at Rajgarh in Himachal Pradesh, for living a quiet,peaceful life in the spring and autumn, about eight hours drive from Delhi. Mrs Gandhi recalled me from leave in February 1973 and offered me extensionof service because she wanted me to go as ambassador to the USA. I told herthat I was, in principle, against extension of service for anybody. In anycase, I told her that I did not think I was a suitable man for the post ofambassador to the USA because I had been critical of US policies as ForeignSecretary, and had earlier developed close Indo-Soviet relations asambassador to the USSR. I suggested a few names who, I thought, would bemore suitable, including Dr Karan Singh's. Mrs Gandhi told me, she wanted tosend someone who could stand up to the US administration, speak up andcommunicate freely and fearlessly with the people, the academics and theCapitol Hill. I asked her to give me a couple of days to think it over. Iconsulted my friend P.N. Haksar and he strongly advised me to accept theoffer. I also contacted my son and daughter who gave me the same advice. SoI told Mrs Gandhi after two days that I was willing to go to USA asambassador on the understanding that both she and I would reconsider thematter after I stayed there for a year. She smiled and agreed, as if to sayI would have to stay longer. Off to USA as ambassador of India in May 1973, I was kept waiting for amonth to present my credentials along with three other ambassadorsdesignate. It was the practice of the US administration at that time to haveat least four ambassadors presenting their credentials one after the other,on the same day, which suited President Nixon. I did not mind the delay as Igot a month to study the internal situation in the USA which was quite tenseat that time because of Watergate. I used to watch the CongressionalCommittee hearings on Watergate on the TV almost three to four hours everyday. It was a great challenge to the political stability of democracy aswell as the institution of the US Presidency. I shall not go into thedetails of Watergate here but should like to record my faith in the strengthof US democracy which won the Watergate battle and eventually forcedPresident Nixon to resign. I spent almost half the month during my tenure in the US touring variousStates, addressing campuses, World Affairs and Foreign Policy Associations,Chambers of Commerce and speaking frequently on the US TV and radio. I wasable to visit 44 of the 50 States during my tenure of three-an-a-half yearsin the USA beating the record of all other ambassadors; the Britishambassador came next after me in this regard.Excerpted from `A Diplomat's Diary', by T.N. Kaul; Macmillan; Rs 345
