Anecdotes from yesteryear

Former diplomat and foreign minister K Natwar Singh is one of India’s most engaging raconteurs. In a recent article on diplomacy and Morarji Desai, he recalls the first meeting between China’s Prime Minister Chou-En-Lai and Desai. He writes: “The meeting was a disaster. As soon as the Prime Minister and Foreign Ministers sat down, Desai said, “You are spying in Kalimpong.” This was not diplomacy. It was an outrageous insult. Chou-En-Lai was aghast. By the end of the meeting the Chinese Prime Minister had lost his cool, saying to Desai, “You have said enough.” To our horror, the Finance Minister’s response was, “You have said more than enough.”

Singh also reproduces the typewritten note that was sent in 1979 ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in Lusaka, where he was posted. This was entitled the ‘dietary preferences of the Prime Minister”. It started with breakfast at 8 am. Desai wanted carrot juice, but only the juice of deep pink carrots that are grown in northern India in the winter season. Lunch was five piece of raw garlic (the Gujarat type which has two pieces in every clove, chopped in pieces), half a litre of cow’s milk that was lukewarm with NO sugar or half a liter of cow’s milk curd which must not be sour; 50 gms fresh paneer made with cow’s milk; fruit, cucumber and dry fruit including dates and figs. This was to be followed by some Indian sweet, made with jaggery, not sugar. The same menu was to be repeated at dinner but no paneer, dates or figs was to be served at dinner. No cereal or vegetables in any form. Desai died at 99.