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Demystifying the art of diplomacy

— Photo: S. Mahinsha

Chronicling experiences: The head of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore, Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma, releasing two books by T.P. Sreenivasan, right, former diplomat, in the city on Sunday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From the paddy fields of Kayamkulam through the streets of Tokyo, past Washington and Moscow, to the “termimus” at Vienna … T.P. Sreenivasan, former Ambassador of India to the U.N., has chronicled his anecdote-rich life in the Indian Foreign Service in the books Words Words Words — Adventures in Diplomacy and Encounters, released here on Sunday by the head of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore, Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma.

The release ceremony was organised at the Trivandrum Club by the club’s Elders’ Forum.

In his introductory remarks, Mr. Sreenivasan said the books were an attempt to demystify diplomats and the job they did. “Sometimes, people think we live in a dream world. I wanted to show that diplomacy is very much a human activity,” he said. His entry into the foreign service was “a quantum leap for a village boy” who lived as a “son of the soil” among paddy fields at Kayamkulam, he said. The books seek to inform readers about the processes that led to important diplomatic decisions which are often invisible and unknown to the common man.

Words … offers insights into interesting happenings in the world of diplomats, prime ministers and presidents. These include the incident when the former Prime Minister Morarji Desai was aghast after seeing a “gory” Kathakali performance in which Bhima “kills” Dussasana and when Desai shocked Russian leader Leonid Breshnev by turning down the latter’s offer to include an Indian in a space journey atop a Russian rocket, Mr. Sreenivasan said.

Encounters contains the “portraits” of 28 famous personalities that the former Ambassador met at various points of time. They include K.R. Narayanan, the Dalai Lama, Leonid Breshnev and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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