Special Correspondence

M.F. Husain,the beleaguered painter now living in Qatar,writes a matter-of-fact letter (not dated),asking Natwar Singh’s help for organising a show in New York and Washington. Likewise,Vijayalakshmi Pandit,Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister,pleads with Natwar Singh to get her daughter Nayantara Sahgal on to the Indian delegation to the UN. “Everything here is right except the weather,” E.M. Forster reports from Cambridge on April 1 1955. Remember that Natwar Singh is Forster’s biographer. I liked B.K. Nehru,Indian ambassador to the United States,describing a respected Congress minister gulping down five glasses of cognac in fifteen minutes “with his back turned towards me every time he engaged in the swallowing act”.

A self-proclaimed Nehruphile,Natwar Singh would have felt comfortable working with Indira Gandhi. Her letters in this volume attracted me by the quality of writing and the balance of topics. Without neglecting politics,she speaks more often of the arts and gives an indication of her reading habits. What is more,she reveals,despite a certain reserve,part of her self and comes across as courageous,almost stoical. Notice the following letter written on August 3,1981: “I feel isolated not because of policies,the correctness of which will be seen in time as it has been before. But while the earth spins on the beauty and with method,the world of men is a hollow one,where words have no meaning and sentiments no feeling,the young have lost wonder,elan and even hope. What can a leaden-eyed civilisation do? Can a flame of idealism or a vision of a better man be protected from all the cynicism,hypocrisy and hatred?”

It is said of George Eliot that her words ring with the supreme appeal of a common brotherhood and common sufferings. Don’t expect to find these sentiments expressed by the rich,the powerful and the famous. But wish Natwar Singh good luck for letting us have access to a major collection.