My mother accompanied my father to Delhi when he went there to represent Cochin State at the meetings concerning integration of the states after Independence. And she was thrilled to visit the residence of the Governor General, Lord Mountbatten for a reception. Not because she would see Lord Mountbatten at close range. She dismissed him with two sentences “He is too tall and his face is too long.”
Her hero was Panditji. At the- reception my- parents-stood in line, when the Mountbattens and Panditji came down the line, shaking hands with the invitees. When Panditji was in front of her, my mother smiled her artless smile and said to Pandit Nehru “Panditji, how shall I remember you? As an eminent politician or a brilliant author?” I do not know who was more surprised by these impromptu questions the. Prime Minister or my father! Pandit Nehru stopped in front of my mother and looked at her quizzically. Then he smiled his shy smile and said softly “As you please, as you please” and moved on.
Later on when she told us this, we were awed. “Did you tell father you were going to ask these questions?” we asked her. “Of course not. He would have vetoed it immediately,” she said mischievously.
That was true. Father was the perfect Government servant, formal and disciplined. Such off-the-cuff exchanges with the Prime Minister of India would not have met with his approval!
I was in Delhi in 1958-60. One beautiful evening I was walking down the broad road which cuts across Raj Path, from my office in Udyog Bhavan. The sandstone secretariat buildings made perfect sentinels for the distant Rastrapathi Bhavan.
The road was deserted when suddenly three cars, white Ambassadors, came down the road. There were two or three men in the first car. The second car followed a little behind and to my astonishment I saw the Prime Minister, sitting alone, leaning forward a little, his chin resting on his hand just as in that famous photo of him by Karsh. I was the only person on that stretch of footpath and his gaze fell on me. I just stood there and stared.
If my mother had been in my place, she would have given him a warm smile and waved. And I think he would have waved back!