India Remembered
Page 11
‘Gandhi... must be accounted one of the
greatest artists in leadership of all time.’
Alan Campbell-Johnson
Wednesday 14th January
A party of 28 flew to Bikaner to stay with the Maharajah. Daddy first met him when he was 7 and Hiru was 5 and then 4 years later at the coronation of King George V. Both of them served on the staff of the Prince of Wales for his visit to India in 1921/22. A 60-page programme has been prepared for our visit but the State Banquet has been cancelled out of respect for Gandhiji’s fast. We drove straight to Gajner, HH’s shooting estate, where a mile-long lake has been carved out of the Rajputana desert. When we arrived at the Lagoon Terrace the programme read ‘The Master of the Household will take the necessary steps to ensure that the crows and other birds are not allowed to settle on the trees on the Lagoon Terrace for at least a week beforehand and special care must be taken about this on the day of the lunch.’ In the afternoon there was a vast duck shoot. We had dinner in a silklined and carpeted shamiana and then watched HH’s sporting films from around the world.
State elephants parade at the City Palace.
Thursday 15th January
At 7:30 this morning we had the famous imperial sand-grouse shoot. 30,000 birds flew over during the morning. They are difficult to shoot, flying very fast and swerving in all directions. In the afternoon we drove 25 miles to Lallgarh Palace in Bikaner. Before dinner we gathered in the Durbar Hall where Daddy invested HH with the Insignia of the GCSI. The assembled nobles and courtiers looked very fine in their red and yellow Durbar dress.
Friday 16th January
A review of the Bikaner State Army including a trot past of the Camel Corps and a gallop past of the Durbar Lancers. The Bijey Battery on parade served with great distinction in Daddy’s Burma Campaign and fought in the battles of Kohima and Imphal. We then visited the Fort where we saw regalia given to the Bikaner rulers by Moghul Emperors and we were shown beautifully illuminated Sanskrit and Urdu manuscripts. Afterwards we drove through the city past enthusiastic crowds. In the evening we watched a tournament in which the Bodyguard and the Camel Battery gave an excellent musical ride and drive followed by torch-lit club-swinging. We then returned for a large dinner party in the Durbar Hall.
Saturday 17th January
We flew back to Delhi and Mummy and Daddy immediately called on Gandhiji at Birla House. They found him very weak. But he greeted them with a twinkle in his eye and said, ‘It takes a fast to bring you to me.’
Sunday 18th January
Gandhiji has broken off his fast as Congress has decided to pay the crores and they have persuaded him that his other anxieties have been dealt with.
My father taking the salute at the farewell parade of British troops in Delhi in front of Government House.
John, Patricia and me at the parade.
Left to right: John, Patricia, my father, Bikaner, my mother, the Raj Kumar and me.
Tuesday 20th January
Mummy rushed round to Birla house to see Gandhiji after a bomb exploded in the garden as he walked to his prayer meeting. Gandhiji seemed very relaxed about the whole affair.Friday 23rd January We visited Bhopal, whose Nawab is Daddy’s old friend, Hamidullah.
Friday 23rd January
We visited Bhopal, whose Nawab is Daddy’s old friend, Hamidullah.
Tuesday 27th January
We visited Nagpur and then flew on down to Madras which we toured and went up to the hill station, Ootacamund. The Governor Sir Archibald Nye, took us out riding. We were warned to follow him in single file, along a narrow bank. Daddy was on a large, clumsy horse which missed its footing and he ended up in the bog. He was pulled clear but it took an agonising time to remove Daddy’s beautiful but sodden leather boots, made by Maxwell to hug the legs, and to get him into morning coat and top hat.
Friday 30th January
We arrived back in Delhi.
23rd January: Hamidulla Khan, the Nawab of Bhopal with my mother. My father with Bhopal’s daughter and the Nawab of Pataudi.
Gandhi’s Assassination:
January 1948
Such was Gandhiji's standing in India that my father had made sure that a meeting with the great man was one of the first things on the agenda when we arrived. As the months slipped by, Gandhi's political opinions became eclipsed by those of Congress and the Muslim League, but the aura that surrounded him was no more diminished for that. I had the incredible good fortune to attend one of his prayer meetings and meet him on several occasions. I, like the rest of India, revered him. His assassination brought the whole of the nation to a standstill and we all felt the blow cruelly.
Gandhi’s body brought out of Birla House.
Gandhiji’s Assassination
Friday 30th January
Daddy, Patricia, John and I arrived back in Delhi this afternoon from a visit to Madras. Mummy stayed on to complete her engagements. A couple of hours later I was standing in my bedroom with the radio turned on when suddenly there was an announcement: Gandhiji had been assassinated. I couldn’t believe it. I was dumbstruck, but the announcement continued. He had been shot while he was walking to his weekly prayer meeting. By now, tears were pouring down my face.
I had only met him a few times but I felt as though I had lost a member of my family. And so did everyone else in India. Bapu, the Father of the Nation, was dead. The whole of India seemed to have come to a complete standstill with everyone engulfed by horror and grief. But my father dashed to Birla House.
As he got out of the car, someone in the crowd shouted out to him, ‘A Muslim did it.’ My father had the presence of mind to shout back, ‘You fool, it was a Hindu!’ In fact, no one knew who the assassin was. But my father felt instinctively that his reply was the only way to prevent a disastrous civil war.
He was immediately taken to Gandhiji’s room, where the body had been placed. My father told us that he stood in silent homage and then went into another room where the members of the Cabinet had gathered. He told them that at his last interview, Gandhi had said that his dearest wish was for a reconciliation between Panditji and Vallabhbhai Patel – he had been very distressed by their bitter disagreements. Panditji and Sardarji immediately and dramatically embraced. My father came back greatly relieved at this reconciliation.
Of course the next preoccupation was Nehru’s safety. The new India now relied on him – he was the pivot and vital as much the strongest man. My father was convinced that there wasn’t a sole assassin because they had found three people carrying grenades only three days earlier and my father thought that Nehru was the target.
17th January: Mahatma Gandhi at Birla House, New Delhi, during his final fast.
He also thought it essential that Nehru must have time to work out what he was going to say in his broadcast. In fact, the slightly impromptu tone and the raw voice were very moving. Panditji’s broadcast to the nation was followed immediately by Vallabhbhai. Patel spoke very well but no one who heard Panditji’s speech – ‘The light has gone out’ – will ever forget it.
Saturday 31 January
Mummy flew back in the night and arrived in time for breakfast, after which we drove to Birla House.
Gandhi’s body had been placed on a balcony. He looked very serene with his head resting on a cushion of flowers, but without his glasses he seemed rather unfamiliar – very small and frail. It was heartbreaking and of course everyone around him was weeping. My father and Panditji tried their best to control the chaos when his body was brought down from the balcony and placed on the bier. The Congress flag covered the funeral carriage, which was pulled by sailors with the Governor-General’s bodyguard as escort. The procession to Raj Ghat, the burning ground, a large open space on the banks of the river Jumna, wound six miles long through old and New Delhi. The route was lined by soldiers, sailors and airmen. It must have taken a lot of organisation in the few hours since Gandhi died. In fact, a speedy cremation was the Hindu custom and was what Gandhi had wished.
The funeral procession moving down Kingsway (note: Dome of Government House on sky line).
Our family seated in front of Gandhi’s funeral pyre.
The pyre set alight to cries of ‘Gandhi is immortal!’
When we arrived at Raj Ghat, we were a party of some twenty people. There were also all the visiting Governors who had come to Delhi for the Governor’s conference. Then there was the Diplomatic Corps. We were standing immediately in front of a low platform on which logs were piled for what would become the funeral pyre. Realising that once the funeral cortège arrived it would all be such a huge crowd, my father insisted that the VIPs sit crosslegged on the ground – he was afraid that they might have been pushed into the flames once the funeral got underway and emotions ran high. It was an extraordinary sight seeing the cortège in the distance and then arriving: the press of people was so huge that of course they had been able to break through the servicemen’s lines. A vast crowd followed and became part of it, adding to the enormous crowd already assembling. Very soon there were about seven lakhs –700,000 people.
Gandhi’s body was placed on logs which were built up higher, then sacred oils and ghee were sprinkled on it and Gandhi’s son lit the pyre. It was a horrifying moment watching a beloved body being consumed by the flames, but strangely enough the horror soon wore off and one almost felt a rejoicing with everyone in the crowd trying to press forward and throw flowers. Then there was horror again as some of the village women rushed forward hysterically to try to commit sutee. But mercifully they were prevented. It really did become a scene of wonder and rejoicing as the flames engulfed him and the cry rose up, ‘Gandhi is immortal!’
By this time the crowd had become so emotional that my father stood up to assess the situation and decided that if he was going to get all the VIPs back alive a strategic withdrawal would be in order – so he told us to make a human chain and discreetly make our exit. Recognising him in his naval uniform, the crowd very considerately parted for us and we were able to get through to the cars.
Tours Part II:
February – May 1948
After the shock of Gandhiji’s assassination the country was in mourning, but life at Governor-General’s House was as busy as ever. The first Governors’ Conference to take place after the transfer of power gathered at the House. There had been no time to cancel it after Gandhi’s death so most attended the cremation with us. More friends came to stay and we took up our hectic tour schedule again, including an official trip to Rangoon to return the throne of Theebaw. At least in May we could go one last time to Simla and Mashobra and we could take Panditji, by now a dear friend, and at this time in desperate need of a break from the weight of the country’s problems. The month ended with what seemed to be hundreds of farewell parties before our planned departure in June.
The Prime Minister doing Yogi. He used to do his early morning telephone calls like this
3rd February: Conference of Governors of the Indian Provinces after Independence with their wives, Senior Staff and House Party.
Sunday 1st February
Most of the Governors are here for the Governors’ Conference tomorrow.
At the first of the Governors’ Conferences, which now took place with all Indian Governors, we had a very formal lunch party. My mother was worried that one of the Governors appeared not to be eating at all, so she asked his ADC to find out why. Would he like different food, is he vegetarian, what can we give him? So she sent a message, ‘Would His Excellency like an egg or is there something wrong?’ Of course there were so many different dietary stipulations in meetings of this sort in India – you had ribbons on the backs of the chairs to denote someone who was vegetarian, or Hindu with no beef, Muslim with no pork. But maybe we’d made a mistake and he couldn’t eat what we had prepared for him. The young officer went over to his Governor and there was a whispered conversation, the officer disappeared out of the dining room and came back with a small, carefully wrapped parcel which he handed to the kitmagar to put on the silver salver with whispered instructions to take it to the Governor. Unfortunately the kitmagar misunderstood which of the many Governors it was for and presented it with great ceremony to the Governor of Bombay, sitting on my mother’s right hand. The Governor of Bombay was Sir Maharaj Singh, an extremely educated cosmopolitan Governor, and he was slightly startled by the salver being presented to him. He unwrapped the parcel to discover ... a pair of false teeth! The teeth were quickly wrapped up again and taken round the table to their rightful owner, who was a lovely man, the Governor of Orissa, Dr Khaju, a great scholar who also used to write detective stories like Sherlock Holmes. He was delighted to receive his teeth which he popped in, and thereafter he ate with relish.
9th February: My parents with Nehru in a howdah on an elephant proceeding to the Mela – Allahabad.
9th February: Some of the million bathers at the Confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna.
Also at that first Indian Governors’ lunch, my sister Patricia had quite a tough time talking to her neighbour but she had struggled on and ultimately he seemed very appreciative of what she was telling him. She had been describing the ceremony of Princess Elizabeth’s recent wedding to Philip. She had described the enormous enthusiasm of the crowds, the pageantry, and what a fantastic day it had been. She was appalled to discover later that the Governor in question had approached my mother at the end of lunch and relayed that her charming daughter had been telling him all about her wedding.
Monday 9th February
To the Mela with Nehru at Allahabad.
Thursday 12th February
Gandhi’s ashes were scattered after a service of memorial at the Cathedral Church of Redemption. Daddy read a lesson and we sang Gandhi’s favourite hymns including ‘Abide with Me’.
Friday 13th February
We visited the famous Doon School at Dehradun. When we left, cars lined up to shine their headlights on the runway to allow us to take off.
Friday 5th March
Patel suffered a heart attack, the general concensus is that it comes after the strain he has been under since Gandhiji’s death. His doctors have insisted that he removes himself from all government matters. This will be difficult as he and Nehru are such key figures.
Monday 8th March
We set off on tour again, this time to Calcutta, Orissa, Rangoon, and Assam. Our schedule is incredibly tight and Mummy and Daddy will be very busy. The schedule has been printed up in four different coloured books.
As a party (including staff) we number about 50.
Tuesday 9th March
After a very busy day we had a family dinner at the oldest golf club in the East, founded in 1829.
6th March: After investiture in Durbar Hall.
7th March: My father leaving Delhi University (wearing the gown of a Doctor of Science) with my mother and Nehru.
Wednesday 10th March
To Orissa where we were met by the Governor Dr Khaju.While we were there the Naval ADC, Lieutenant Pran Parashar’s over-enthusiasm got us into serious trouble. We were visiting a temple and the priest warned that we would not be allowed into the Holy of Holies. Pran was outraged on our behalf. Explaining that he was a Brahmin of a much higher caste than the priest, he swept us into the forbidden area. The next morning, as we were reading the newspapers, we saw the headline: ‘Temple closed for purification after being polluted by Governor-General’s Visit.’
Thursday 11th March
Rangoon. All Burma’s important Governors present.
Saturday 13th March
Returned from Rangoon to Calcutta. W
ent to exhibition. Mummy did a final recording for All India Radio to say goodbye to the people of West Bengal.
On 21st March Alan Campbell-Johnson wrote in praise of my mother’s ceaseless activity in her leadership of the United Council. He recorded that, since the end of August 1947, she had made ten ‘major tours up to the end of January, carrying out seventy inspections of individual refugee camps and fifty tours of hospitals. All this is on top of the Mountbattens’ general tour schedule, in which they are still trying to complete a five-year Viceregal progress in nine months. During a further ten tours to states and provinces she has paid sixty-six visits to hospitals, social-welfare centres, colleges, training establishments etc. It is a prodigious effort of body and spirit, and has captured the imagination of India as only the propaganda of deeds can do.’
10th March: My parents with H E Dr Khaju, Governor of Orissa, at Government House, Cuttack.
My parents having overshoes fixed before visiting the temple in Orissa.
13th March: Naga Tribesmen arrive to do war dance at Shillong.
Between 20th March and 5th April we visited Kapurthala, Travancore, Cochin and Udaipur.
Sunday 20th March
The Maharaja of Kapurthala is 76 and has been on the gadi since the age of 5. He has seen many Viceroys and Vicereines come and go. At the State Luncheon welcoming Mummy and Daddy he stood up and bade everyone ‘drink to the health of Lord and Lady Willingdon.’