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Book Review
Steely diplomatic core
ANECDOTES FROM A DIPLOMAT’S LIFE: P.J. Rao; EastWest Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd., 571, Poonamalle High Road, Kamaraj Bhavan, Aminjikarai, Chennai-600029. Rs. 250.
Arvind Sivaramakrishnan
An acquaintance who has helped tsunami survivors has expressed admiration for many of the public servants he met during that work. Had my acquaintance known P.J. Rao even slightly, he would have been admiring but not surprised. Rao’s quietly understated account of the many awkward situations he resolved during his long diplomatic career shows the severity of the demands upon the Indian public services and the calibre of so many Indian public servants.
Even as a student struggling to fund his education Rao showed the ability, determination, and judgment that run through the book. On one occasion he even told the college principal that unless awarded a full scholarship he would have to leave college. He got the award.
Eventful years
Rao started his working life on the Eastern Express and then The Statesman in Calcutta. Life was tough; Rao’s modest income had to provide for himself and his wife Susheela, a qualified teacher who also showed quiet strength throughout her life, as the pair had married across caste lines, to the anger — lasting some years — of their respective families.
This was during Partition, which could easily have claimed Rao; one evening, Rao took the last tramcar to his night duty, getting off at an ‘eerily empty’ Chowringhee Square. Suddenly he saw men with knives. Turning back would have meant instant death; so he walked straight up and asked what was happening. One of the men recognised Rao, said there was a curfew, and insisted on accompanying him to The Statesman’s offices. And Rao never stopped taking the last tramcar into work.
But Rao’s time at The Statesman ended when he discovered that the paper had an admitted preference for promoting Anglo-Indians. Rao joined the news services division of the All India Radio in Delhi; three years later he joined the Publicity Division of the Ministry of External Affairs.
That began a long career full of incident. Posted to Pondicherry as Indian pressure for a handover intensified, Rao, together with two other Indian officials, ensured that eminent local figures were won over to India’s side, and Rao used his standing with the Indian press, which also served Pondicherry, to create a climate of reportage which hastened France’s departure.
Anecdotes
Many salutary anecdotes follow. In the then Rhodesia, Rao used his press contacts to internationalise a repellent episode of racism he and his family had undergone at a Rhodesian hotel. The Ministry were unhappy about not being informed first, but the international coverage severely rattled the Rhodesian government, and hugely embarrassed their rulers in London. There are lighter moments. In Canada, Rao, perhaps from instinct, tape-recorded the then Deputy Prime Minster, Morarji Desai, who publicly contradicted Indian policy by saying India would not object to Bhutan’s having a U.N. place. The Ministry were angry about Rao’s alleged failure to prevent the ensuing presumed misreportage, but Rao sent them the transcript; no more was said.
Reminder
And there is a reminder not to be complacent about Indian democracy. Rao chose his moment to ask General J. N. Chaudhuri, said to be responsible for India’s 1965 military victory over Pakistan, why he was High Commissioner to Canada when he could have had almost any post he wanted. The General replied that the government was suspicious of successful generals and had questioned him as to why he was preparing to deploy two armoured regiments in Delhi, apparently on the occasion of Pandit Nehru’s funeral, without the required prior Cabinet approval. Later, when Rao asked the General if the army had ever contemplated seizing power through a coup d’état, he replied that that India’s heterogeneity made it “too much of a headache” for any general – but that there is “a cell in the Army where some bright officers” study political developments.
Well this book is a touching memoir and an interesting, entertaining, and valuable guide for young civil servants and journalists, not least for the author’s courage and his quick decisions in critical situations. It should be acquired and used by training institutions for public service and journalism.
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