India Remembered

by India Hicks

  Wednesday 18th June

  We left at five in the morning and motored down to Ambala where Daddy and the York picked us up and flew on to Kashmir.

  They have an extremely tricky airfield there and one has to fly through the mountain passes, with some peaks 26,000 feet high, and then down into the valley. However, we landed quite safely just before lunch and were met by the Maharaja.

  We drove with the Maharaja to Gulab Mahal and met the Maharani Tera Devi and the Yuvraj, their son, the Crown Prince. He went on to become very famous. He was known as Tiger and he later became a minister in the Indian government, and the Governor of Kashmir. ‘Tiger of Kashmir’ was a remarkable man. He married a beautiful Nepalese princess who was very useful and helpful too. But at this point he was only sixteen. We had lunch at Shalimar Gardens then went on to Nishart, which was even more lovely with wonderful fountains.

  Thursday 19th June

  Spent all day at the trout stream at Thricker.

  The Maharani and the boy, Tiger, did not come. The latter is extremely nice, sixteen years old, but very ill with an unknown bone formation that makes him walk painfully. Daddy is trying to persuade them to send him to a London specialist.

  Friday 20th June

  The Maharani has been out of purda for some time but is very shy although very sweet. She does a great deal for the people and is popular. However, it is really just like living in the times of Henry VIII, the entire thing centres round the ruler, to all outward appearances, and the nervous tension of such an environment is quite awful. However, he has arranged everything for Mummy and Daddy painstakingly and down to the last detail and is extremely hospitable.

  We went to Drapahama, the most lovely wild valley surrounded by forest-clad hills. I saw my first black bear which was thrilling. Daddy went vainly after it and made us all appallingly late for a big dinner.

  We were kept busy throughout our stay and at no point did the Maharaja allow for a conversation with my father about ‘accedence’. My parents were driven mad by this.

  19th June: My parents in Kashmir.

  The Shalimar Gardens.

  21st June: In the Maharajah’s boat on the Lake at Srinagar.

  Saturday 22nd June

  The palace is on the Dal lake so yesterday went out in HH’s shikara. The rowers chant and shout out to each other and call out the various strokes which included the Lord Sahib, the Lady Sahib and the Miss Sahib and which are caricatures of the people concerned.

  We fished at Nambal beyond Thricker.

  HH didn’t come, said he’s suffering from colic [which we gathered was a diplomatic illness. The whole purpose of the visit had been to persuade him to make up his mind to join either Pakistan or Hindustan – his vacillation proved to be a precursor to the whole Kashmir problem.]

  After dinner the Maharani showed us her jewellery – astonishing. Daddy upset both the dinner parties by unknowingly leaning against the bell at table which rang solidly for ten minutes and ruined the band’s performance.

  My father’s frustration and disappointment at not getting the Maharaja to make a decision has been vindicated over the years by the ongoing territorial disputes in the region.

  Monday 23rd June

  We flew back to Delhi, it took about three and a half hours, of which the last 45 minutes terrible. Very sick and completely out on arrival. Together with that, the various sudden changes of altitude and temperature we have had, a slight touch of fever. I had to retire to bed feeling very ill. Monty [Field-Marshal Montgomery of Alamein] arrived just passing through on his way to Australia.

  Tuesday 24th June

  Peter Murphy left this morning for his journey home on an oiler, the story of which we will doubtless never be allowed to forget.

  Daddy had a special badge made for the Kitmagar behind Monty’s chair chair that instead of M of B said M of A. Monty was extremely pleased.

  Wednesday 25th June

  Staff investiture including knighthood for George Abell. We had all the staff to dinner, there were more than 40, almost half of them girls. Saturday 28th June

  Mr Kearney the Canadian High Commissioner and various millionaires came to lunch.

  200 cases every morning: however the doctors keep on coming and going with continual changing about, it upsets everything and would be far more satisfactory if only we could get a permanent doctor.

  At the clinic the cases we were beginning to see were mostly wounds – many caused by Sikh kirpans, rather than disease.

  Monday 30th June

  I went to the Clinic in the morning. I now act as a kind of taxi service picking up and dropping a Mrs Annand and the wife of the ear, nose and throat specialist who have both started working there. We are getting quite a number of new helpers which is lucky as we now have to deal with up to

  The next problem to rear its head was that of splitting the army. At first it seemed that it could be accepted that Muslims and Hindus would continue to fight together but that was to prove too optimistic, as was my father’s idea of meeting the rising tensions in the Provinces with force. They didn’t know it, but they were entering a most incendiary and harrowing phase as the Provincial Assemblies of Bengal and the Punjab had voted for Partition. My father never doubted that Partition was a prescription for disaster.

  It was acceptable only because no alternative was available, but he and the Indian leaders had underestimated the hatred that would lead to the tit-for-tat killings and how quickly the Sikhs would be aroused to violence. Furthermore his staff were ill:

  Miéville had thrombosis; Ismay dysentery; Brockman was also invalided and my father described himself as looking ‘haggard’.

  Rising Tensions:

  July 1947

  The month began badly as my father had expected to become the Governor-General of both India and Pakistan, but on the 1st July Jinnah put paid to those plans by announcing that he would become G-G of Pakistan. This left my father to decide whether to accept the offer to become G-G of India and therefore go against every non-partisan plan he had stood for in his tenure. Indeed his later acceptance of the governor-generalship of India did tarnish his impartial reputation and kindled persistent rumours that he was anti-Muslim League. A letter to Patricia dated 5th July signalled just how depressed he was with the situation: ‘I have boobed’, he wrote mournfully. It was the only time he admitted it.

  Gandhi’s letter sent to my mother on 18th July 1947.

  My mother (and perhaps Stafford Cripps) was the only person to beg my father to leave India after 15th August. Everyone else advised him – or in the case of Congress begged him – to stay. On 7th July Ismay and Campbell Johnson flew to London to see the Cabinet and get their advice. It was debated in the Cabinet and they agreed he should stay on – as did Churchill and the King.

  Back in India, the constant brawling between Congress and the Muslim League meant that two Cabinets had to be set up. My father was at the helm as Chairman, but he was very keen not to be called to arbitrate – again he was certain that India and Pakistan needed to learn to cope with their own problems.

  Tuesday 1st July

  I went off round the Bodyguard lines with Mummy and Daddy early in the morning… Daddy gave them a short talk in Hindustani having learnt it up in the bath aloud for days past! They really are remarkably fine men but slightly shady characters. The other day one came up to Paddy, the Commandant, with the request that he would ‘grant him a small favour’ and say that he had returned from leave one day earlier than in actual fact. He was hotly followed by the police demanding his arrest for murder! However, it is quite possible that he was framed.

  The learned speech was typical of my father who would want to touch something in the hearts of the rank and file.

  Wednesday 2nd July

  Yesterday the American Ambassador came to present his credentials and have lunch with us.

  I had a Hindustani lesson and went to the Canteen.

  Thursday 3rd July

  I spent most of t
he morning at the Clinic.

  Panditji came to lunch with Mrs Pandit. She has been appointed Ambassador to Russia and will be leaving soon. She is taking Lekha with her which should be fascinating for her as so much is discussed about Russia and so little is really known.

  Daddy has had a calendar distributed to most offices saying ‘ …days left to transfer of power’, so as to impress it upon the various government departments, as it is horrifying how quickly time passes and 15th August is not very far off now in comparison with what remains to be done.

  Saturday 5th July

  I went to the Canteen as usual leaving Mummy to go off and have tea with Gandhiji at Banghi Colony! [Certainly a first for a Vicereine.]

  The famous calendar showing the number of days until the transfer of power.

  The officers of the Bodyguard with my father, Colonel Currie, the Military Secretary and myself as their Welfare Officer.

  With tension rising, the Punjab Boundary force was put in place under Major-General Pete Rees (made mostly of non-partisan Ghurkas). At this time the Muslim League suggested strongly that it should be the UN that divided the Punjab and Bengal but Nehru would not agree. On the 8th July Sir Cyril Radcliffe arrived in India from London to prepare the boundaries between the two dominions. He was famed for his probity. He had never been to India before (something which would ensure his impartiality, it was reasoned). He did not stay with us but in another house on the Estate so that my father was seen to have no influence over any of his decisions.

  Wednesday 9th July

  The Staff have given Daddy and me a baby mongoose. It is quite adorable but smells to high heaven. It is only about six inches long and three weeks old but they are said to grow about two feet with another foot for the tail and become quite tame.

  Krishna Menon has been appointed High Commissioner for the UK and so will be leaving at the end of the week. I went to the Canteen.

  Gandhiji’s Prayer Meeting

  Thursday 10th July

  The announcement of Philip and Lilibet’s engagement has been made and has received a very enthusiastic and sweet welcome.

  In the evening Krishna [Menon] took me to Gandhiji’s prayer meeting. We called on him first in his little quarter in Banghi Colony, a very small but beautifully kept room. He wanted to know all about the ‘happy event’ which turned out to be the engagement. (He showed me his three wise monkeys in ivory. One of the very few possessions he still keeps).

  The [prayer] meeting was fascinating.

  A large crowd, as always, and a remarkable atmosphere. A verse from the Koran (it is a universal prayer meeting) and an Arabic hymn chanted, two minutes silence and the usual forty minute discourse. The awe in which he is held and the power of his personality are quite extraordinary.

  The whole meeting of course was in Hindi and I could not understand a word, but you looked at the crowd and saw not one person fidgeting. Everybody was absolutely silent in rapt attention.

  My mother had been to tea with Gandhiji at Banghi Colony before of course, but it was considered inappropriate for my parents to actually attend one of the prayer meetings as it might have been thought that they were supporting one of the Hindu leaders and could have been criticised by the Muslim League. I, on the other hand, was not an important enough figure for it to matter.

  I went to the meeting with Krishna Menon (who had been with Gandhiji for a long time and of course had been a member of the London County Council). We drove in one of the Viceregal cars, picked up Krishna, then went to Banghi Colony where we walked across to see Gandhi’s quarters. It was near the sweepers’ colony, the poorest colony there was. Having met Gandhiji there, we walked out onto the platform with him. It cannot have been more than a hundred yards from his room. People were already sitting, keeping their places so as to be able to listen to him – if you got up and left your place of course you lost it at once. There were thousands of people there but it was very calm.

  Gandhiji came to have a number of talks with my father. On one occasion he remarked that Viceroy’s House, which he referred to as a palace, would have to be turned into a museum or college after we had gone. It was far too big for one man to live in. My father replied, ‘Gandhiji, India will be the largest democracy in Asia. The eyes of the world will be upon her. The Heads of State will come to visit and you will need to entertain them and to impress them. The man who lives in this house will not be a private person, he will be representing India, and he should live accordingly.’

  It was not long before Gandhiji returned with another anxiety. He told my father that he was worried that once they assumed power the ministers would become arrogant. He was planning a way to ensure that they remained humble. Gandhiji said that he kept a spinning wheel and spun every day. He felt that the ministers should devote one day a week to gardening and housework. ‘But Gandhiji,’ my father replied, ‘they will scarcely have time to complete the work on their portfolios. They will never have time for housework and hoovering.’

  Saturday 12th July

  We went riding on the Ridge. When we were almost home, Mummy and Daddy continued on ahead. Still rather unsafe in the side saddle, I pulled the Ace up to go slower and he, both impatient and still unused to the saddle, started bucking. Unconsciously acting as I might have done astride, I slipped my foot out of the stirrup and eventually hit the ground. It is quite a fall as one goes right up and over the other side.

  I was knocked out and taken home bruised and concussed.

  Sunday 13th July

  Everyone has been very sweet and sent countless messages, including an enquiry from Gandhiji after his ‘naughty friend’ as though I had wanted to fall off ! And it was even reported in The Statesman and the English papers which sounds as though I slipped off, very mortifying, they might at least have said ‘thrown from horse’. My headache has almost gone.

  Friday 18th July

  Mummy and Daddy’s silver wedding. Some lovely presents and countless very touching messages… In the evening they gave a dinner party for one hundred guests which was unique in that all the members of the Cabinet came as well as Members of Congress, the Muslim League and Minorities accompanied by their ladies and various ruling Princes of the most diverse views.

  My parents were extremely tired by this time and there were many arguments. However, they were too accomplished at their jobs to let it show publicly. American diplomat George Merrill and the Governor of the United Provinces, Sir Francis Wylie decided one evening when they were watching my parents at a party for their anniversary, that ‘in all history no revolution had perhaps been put through with so much grace.’ It was a testament to their consummate skills of showmanship and their respect for each other.

  18th July: My parents on their silver wedding anniversary.

  20th July: My parents inspecting riot devastation in Lahore in the Punjab.

  Mother and father with Sir Evan Jenkins.

  Sunday 20th July

  My parents flew to Lahore to see Sir Evan Jenkins and inspect the riot devastation there.

  A letter arrived from Attlee dated 17th July: ‘My dear Dickie. I have read your last report with very great interest. You are managing to jump a lot of awkward hurdles. Our debate on the Bill went very well, the opposition played up well and helped to get it through… I was glad that so many well deserved tributes were paid to you by everybody who spoke. I know too that it is well recognised that Edwina has played a great part in creating the new atmosphere. We are all very grateful to you for carrying on for this next stage. I am very conscious that I put you in to bat on a very sticky wicket to pull the game out of the fire. Few people would have taken it on and few, if any could have pulled the game round as you have…’

  next image: The letter to my father from Prime Minister Attlee.

  The Chamber of Princes

  ‘The Princes are divided and

  uncertain, baffled by the pace of events.’

  Alan Campbell-Johnson

  At this time there w
ere 565 separate states and provinces ruled over by the feudal Princes. Hindu Congress did not want their independence to remain after partition as it would Balkanise (segregate) India. My father, who was a close friend of many of the Princes and who, as a cousin of the King-Emperor, was well respected by them, realised that not only must they not impede the greater good by refusing to accept the new dominions, but that he could help to protect them if they acted while he still had the power of the Viceroy. He therefore decided to persuade them, or push them if necessary, to accede to Pakistan or India on reasonable terms which would ensure that they retained privileges and, albeit very limited, independence. But it was asking a lot of the powerful Princes to surrender that power voluntarily.

  V.P. Menon, my father’s star aide (who had helped him redraft the Mountbatten Plan in Simla after Nehru’s ‘bombshell’) had helped to draft this solution for the princely states, allowing them to accede to either India or to Pakistan, both of which, as Dominions, would still have the King as Head of the Commonwealth.

  The Chamber of Princes assembled on 25th July, headed by Baldev Singh, the leader of the Sikhs who was a very splendid looking man, very courageous and who spoke very well. The leaders included Bhopal (the Muslim ruler of a Hindu State), who agreed to accede. He was an old friend of my father, but the arguments over partition ruined their friendship. Also present were the Maharaja of Jodhpur (who theatrically brandished a revolver in a fountain pen at my father – both he and my father were in the Magic Circle and the pen is now in their museum); and the Nizam of Hyderabad (the Muslim leader of a mainly Hindu state), India’s largest state – the size of France – with 16 million people, who vacillated in his decision to accede until the last moment in 1948.