Chandraswami and the art of the possible
By K. Natwar Singh
I knew Chandraswami for over 40 years intimately. He first met me in London in the summer of 1975. He was by any standard an extraordinary man, at one time a globetrotter and known to the high and mighty in many parts of the world. The story of my taking him to meet the late British Prime Minister Lady Thatcher at the House of Commons is well known. He was 25 years of age and spoke not a word of English.
The meeting started badly, the British Prime Minister was irritated. She kept looking disapprovingly at me for wasting her time. By end of the bizarre encounter, she was eating out of the Swami’s hand.
The next Chandraswami story is known, but not as well as the Thatcher one. I was in Paris in January 1989, as leader of the Indian delegation to the international conference on the abolition of chemical weapons. On the second day, I came down with flu. My throat was so sore that I felt as if razor blades were cutting my tonsils. I felt miserable and irritated. My speech had to be postponed. My private secretary was showing me a few coded telegrams when the telephone rang. “Sir, Mr Chandraswami is on the line.” It was far too uncanny. But true. I was in no mood to talk, but could not resist speaking to the peripatetic Swami. “Kunwar Sahib, you are not feeling well. Who is looking after you?” I said: ‘First, tell me how you came to know of my illness and of my presence in Paris.’ “I will tell you when I meet you. I am bringing President Mitterrand’s doctor to see you.” ‘How do you know the President’s doctor?’ “This too I will tell you when we meet.” Within half-an-hour he arrived with the President’s doctor. The doctor examined me and wrote out a prescription. I was getting more and more curious. I asked the doctor, ‘How do you know Mr Chandraswami?’ He answered: “He is my guru.”
Chandraswami was grinning from ear to ear. He was in his sadhu garments. After a few minutes the doctor left.
Chandraswami was in his element. “I am flying to Belgrade to meet the president of Yugoslavia. He is sending his private plane to pick me.” This I thought was going over the top. ‘Any more fairy tales,’ I asked. Just then the telephone rang. My personal secretary said: “Sir, our ambassador in Belgrade is on the line.” I was dumbfounded. The ambassador informed me that Mr Chandraswami would be arriving in Belgrade tomorrow in the President’s personal plane. “Should I receive him at the airport?” I gave the ambassador a masterly diplomatic answer: ‘Use your judgement.’
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On May 26 the NDA government completed three years in office under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the whole it has been a satisfactory tenure. Not a single financial scandal has erupted. His international image remains intact.
When it comes to the quality and the ability of a majority of his cabinet colleagues, questions arise. Half-a-dozen are world class. The rest are almost unknown. Shri Modi has no challenger so far and should sail to the shores of a second term.
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Pranab Mukherjee is the 13th President and Hamid Ansari the 12th Vice-President. Their terms will end soon. Both have acquitted themselves with dignity and respectability. Hamid Ansari has had two terms. The other was S. Radhakrishnan.
Who their successors will be only the Modi establishment knows. Sonia Gandhi has suddenly become active. Let’s see what the outcome is of her efforts. In the Mahagathbandhan, she has the weakest hand to play.
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The verbal excess of certain members of the BJP knows no limits. The other day one had a go at Arundhati Roy for no rhyme or reason. I wonder if he has read her book on Babasaheb Ambedkar. Which she edited (2003) or her brilliant novel ‘God of small things.’ If he had, he would not have talked such a cant. In all the years of Congress rule, there were only two instances of verbal outrage. Both times the wrongdoer was the Congress president. But she promptly apologised.
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One of the great biographies of the 20th century is the one written by Duff Cooper of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand (1754-1838), the French diplomatist and statesman of the highest order. Wit was among his gifts. He never lost his temper, he changed sides without qualms. He was a master intriguer. Intrigue was carved out with the skills of many of his alluring mistresses, all princesses and aristocrats. He was Napoleon’s foreign minister for several years. When Talleyrand realized that the French emperor was leading his country to disaster, he quietly worked for his fall and succeeded. Napoleon called him, “Shit in a silk stocking.” Talleyrand response was, “How can so great a man be so ill-bred.”
Talleyrand’s advice to young diplomatists was: “Above all, gentlemen, not the slightest zeal.”
