02
OPEN PAGE
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, September 20, 2020
VISAKHAPATNAM
No nervous nineties for
FEEDBACK
VETERAN DIPLOMATS
Here is a snapshot of a few former IFS offi cers who don’t live in the past
K. Natwar Singh
eople in their ni
neties are gener
ally seized by a
strange and nag
ging melancholy.
Each new dawn is a bless
ing. The best is not to be.
But a few of us do not
brood. We have fond me
mories of our years in the
IFS, but we don’t live in the
past.
Of the fi ve, the oldest is
V.M.M. Nair. He was born
on October 8, 1919. He took
degrees from Oxford and
Cambridge. He joined the
ICS in 1942 and was allot
ted the Bihar cadre. In Au
gust 1946, he was perma
nently seconded to the
Indian Political Service,
which was abolished in
1947. He was Undersecre
tary, External Aff airs De
partment from September
1946 to September 1948.
P
Only M.K. Rasgotra could
manage so mercurial,
egoistical and brilliant a
man like Krishna Menon
He was inducted into the
newly formed Indian Fo
reign Service in 1947. I suc
ceeded him as Ambassador
to Poland in 1974. He re
tired in 1979. He lives in
New Delhi.
Maharaja Krishna Ras
gotra was born on Septem
ber 11, 1924. He did his MA
from Panjab University. He
Glory days K. Natwar Singh (right) with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Cuban President Fidel Castro at the
Non-Aligned Summit in New Delhi on March 7, 1983. THE HINDU ARCHIVES
*
was a tutor at the Govern
ment College, Lahore from
1944 to 1946, Head of the
Department of English,
S.A. College for Women,
Sialkot, 1946, and Head of
the Department of English,
Arya College, Ludhiana,
1947. He was appointed to
the Punjab Educational
Service in March 1948 and
as a lecturer in English Go
vernment College, Ludhia
na in 1948. He was selected
for the IFS through the
UPSC competitive exami
nation on September 27,
1949.
He served as First Secre
tary, Permanent Mission of
India to the United Nations
from 1958 to 1962. There
he was attached to V.K.
Krishna Menon, who was
the leader of the Indian de
legation to the annual ses
sion of the UN General As
sembly. Menon was
temperamental, unpredic
table, erratic, unbalanced,
and a fi ne debater with
spectacular success. He
managed to get under the
skin of not only Indian de
legates but also other dele
gates to the UN, in particu
lar the U.S. establishment.
Menon had been High
Commissioner of India to
the U.K. from 1947 to 1952
and was largely responsi
ble for India remaining a
member
of
the
Commonwealth.
Only M.K. Rasgotra
could manage so mercu
rial, egoistical and brilliant
a man. That was no ordin
ary achievement. Mr. Ras
gotra retired in 1984 after
becoming
Foreign
Secretary.
Eric Gonsalves was born
on May 9, 1928. He was se
lected for the IFS on May
25, 1950. He retired as Se
cretary, Ministry of Exter
nal Aff airs in 1988. He now
resides in Chennai along
with his charming wife,
Rose. Among his impor
tant postings were Lon
don, Washington and To
kyo. In him, India had a
gentleman diplomat, utter
ly reliable, warmhearted
and a professional of a high
order.
Now, I shall commit the
fi nal act of immodesty by
writing about myself.
K. Natwar Singh was
born on May 16, 1929. He
was selected for the IFS on
April 14, 1953. His fi rst post
ing was to Peking (not yet
Beijing) from 1956 to 1958.
He served in the Perma
nent Mission of India from
1961 to 1966. He worked in
Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi’s secretariat as De
puty Secretary, Director
and Joint Secretary from
1966 to 1971.
He served as Ambassa
dor to Pakistan from 1980
to 1982 and SecretaryGen
eral of the seventh Non
Aligned Summit held in
New Delhi in March 1983.
He was chief coordinator
of the Commonwealth
Summit, held in New Delhi
in November 1983. He was
awarded Padma Bhusan in
1984. He took premature
retirement in 1984 to join
politics. He served as Mi
nister of State in the Rajiv
Gandhi government from
1984 to 1989.
K. Natwar Singh is the
author of several books, in
cluding his autobiography,
One Life is Not Enough.
He was the fi rst IFS offi c
er to become External Af
fairs Minister. He lives in
New Delhi with his wife,
Heminder Kumari.
There are two more of
us who lived to the nineties
but passed away quite re
cently. One is Kayatyani
Shankar Bajpai, who died
in New Delhi on August 30
at the age of 92. He was the
son of Sir Girija Shankar
Bajpai, ICS, the fi rst Secre
taryGeneral of the Minis
try of External Aff airs.
Shankar Bajpai was born
on February 30, 1928. He
was selected for the IFS on
April 2, 1952. He was the
only IFS offi cer to have
been Ambassador to Chi
na, Pakistan and the U.S.
Natrajan Krishnan died
in Bengaluru on Septem
ber 15, 2020. He was born
V.M.M. Nair joined the ICS
in 1942 and was inducted
into the new Indian
Foreign Service in 1947
on October 6, 1928. He
joined the IFS on July 17,
1951. He served with great
distinction as Permanent
Representative of India at
the UN in the mid1980s.
He was an accomplished,
selfeff acing, lowkey di
plomat.
......................................................
knatwarsingh@yahoo.com
Smitten by cottagecore
The best option is to escape to a rustic environment
Sudha Rao
Purging
prejudices
I. Satya Sundaram
ll of us want to lead a happy life, but
blemishes of our character come in
the way. One of them is prejudice,
which closes our minds to the truth.
Voltaire called prejudice the reason of
fools.
Our thinking is stymied by
prejudices. We have many
preconceived notions. We assume they
are correct. The fact is, universally
accepted principles do not emerge from
a single man’s experience.
We have to respect the views of
others. It is not that our own judgments
are wrong. Socrates had said: “I am
extremely desirous to be persuaded by
you, but not against my own better
judgment.” Thomas Carlyle said: “It is
useful, nay essential, to see his good
qualities before pronouncing on his
bad.” In the words of Ambrose Bierce,
“It is a vagrant opinion without visible
means of support.”
Very often, man’s social behaviour is
guided by wornout customs and
sustained by ageold prejudices. Most
people are unwilling to give up their
prejudices. They are not even aware of
the need for jettisoning them. Our
habits are fi xed fi rmly.
Sometimes, prejudices emerge from
the generation gap. The youngsters
think that the aged are conservative and
lack progressive thinking. The elders
believe the youth lack values and spend
money carelessly.
Experts say it is not easy to eliminate
prejudices. According to an American
historian, George Bancroft, “The
prejudices of ignorance are more easily
removed than the prejudices of interest,
the fi rst are all blindly adopted, the
second wilfully preferred.” It is also said
that our prejudices do not hurt others
as much as they hurt us physically,
mentally and spiritually.
We should be aware of the
deleterious dimensions of dangerous
prejudices. These crucifi ed Jesus Christ,
poisoned Socrates, and assassinated
Martin Luther King. Under their
infl uence, some people have axed
moral values. The prejudices
strengthen sectionalism, communalism,
regionalism and parochialism.
Let us pulverise prejudices;
otherwise, they will pulverise us.
................................................................................
satyasundaram@yahoo.com
A
CM
YK
E
ver dreamt of escaping
to a cabin in the
woods or to sunlit
meadows fi lled with
fl owers? Then, you have cotta
gecore in your soul, a lifestyle
mantra of innate attachment
to Nature. Every now and
then, an idea about wellbeing
becomes a rage — mindful
ness, Zen, gratitude diary,
hygge, Marie Kondo and Ikigai
are examples. Such ideas are
gaining wider acceptance in a
world grappling with a virus
and badly needing a stress
buster.
Cottagecore conveys an
emotion of bliss around rolling
green hills, lush forests, blue
seas and the fragrant earth. It’s
about renewing our acquain
tance with Nature and enjoy
ing slower, more intentional
moments. The best option is
to escape to a rustic environ
ment. The next best thing is to
bring a touch of nature into
our inescapable city lives. So,
we have people who grow mi
crogreens, cook with natural
ingredients or bake brioche
(banana walnut cake is so yes
terday!). Yet others indulge in
Slow lane Gently pamper yourselves in the middle of nature
with peace and tranquillity. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
*
naturethemed art.
Several years ago, we visit
ed the Amish Village of Lan
caster, near Philadelphia, and
were surprised to see an entire
community of people living in
absolute simplicity. The Amish
have little interaction with the
rest of the world and are slow
to adopt the conveniences of
modern living. They wear tra
ditional attire, travel in bug
gies and are selfsuffi cient.
They know nothing but Cotta
gecore, and it seems to have
made them the happiest peo
ple on earth.
It is ironical that the idea
has gained momentum,
thanks to the Internet, when
the point is to take a break
from technology! Yet who can
resist the pleasure of sharing
pictures of activities centred
on an idyllic pastoral life on so
cial media?
Deep in nature
“Look deep into nature and
you will understand everyth
ing better,” Einstein said. As
we gently pamper ourselves in
the middle of nature, making
use of her bounties, the
thought of slowing down and
savouring life’s precious mo
ments is vastly appealing. Lots
of activities have been revived
around this niche aesthetic
that promotes peace and tran
quillity. Anything with a rural
touch — pottery, barbecuing
on woodfi re, folksy music, em
broidery of motifs from na
ture, handwritten letters, tra
ditional crafts and skills — is
welcome.
Cottagecore dreams are
made of outdoor fun in pic
nics, interacting with farm ani
mals and generally living life in
all its simplicity. For those of
us who cannot pack up and go
away into the rural landscape,
there are cottagecorethemed
books and movies that bring a
refreshing slice of the country
side into our humdrum city
lives.
But the idea of a retreat in
to nature does sound great. So
let’s leave behind our devices
and experience the music of
songbirds, the lullaby of the
surf, and the pageantry of the
stars and planets. Sure there is
no WiFi in these parts, but we
will certainly fi nd a better con
nection — with ourselves, of
course.
............................................................
sudhathanjavur@hotmail.com
Is the fi rst impression the last?
All is not lost as frequent positive
interactions and demonstrating
competence can help
Anuj Anil Narkhede
ou never get a second
chance to make the fi rst
impression,” Andrew Grant, a
British writer, said.
On your fi rst day in the new
workplace, your car broke
down, which made you late
for offi ce, and then in the
evening, you spill coff ee on
your supervisor’s desk during
the fi rst interaction with him.
Your new supervisor and exec
utives get the impression that
you are unprofessional. It can
be challenging to recover from
a bad fi rst impression.
Research in social psycholo
gy suggests that people are
quick to form a lasting impres
sion of others, just by inferring
a person’s character traits
from his or her single beha
viour. We do make a judgment
about that person’s trustwor
“Y
thiness and competence in a
few seconds.
Based on initial inference,
we tend to predict the future
behaviour of that person. The
refore, if any person behaved
absurdly with us, we expect
him or her to behave similarly
in the next meeting. We don’t
change our impression that
easily.
Behavioural researchers
have found that our brain has
certain patterns to process in
formation and update their
impression. Learning highly
negative and immoral infor
mation about some person has
a higher impact on our brain
than learning highly positive
and moral information about
any person.
Therefore, the employee
who came late on the fi rst day
may get less weightage for his
talent and skills. But still, there
is hope to recover from a bad
fi rst impression.
When it comes to making
up for a bad fi rst impression,
the preferred action is to take
the right turn and show your
other side of the personality,
which will be easier to like.
Compensate for coming late in
the morning with overtime in
the evening. Demonstrate sin
cerity in work. Studies have
shown that people tend to
change their opinion about
others after eight positive inte
ractions. Therefore, allow pe
ople to reinterpret their opi
nion about us positively.
*
Frequent positive interaction
and demonstrating compas
sion and competence can help
form a positive opinion about
yourself in others’ minds.
Second, we should explain
the context of our previous
wrong actions. A study found
that it was possible to change
your fi rst impression on some
one by giving them informa
tion that gives your actions in
a new context. Therefore, if
we explain the real and honest
reason for unprofessional be
haviour on the fi rst day to the
supervisor, it will be useful to
change their perception. Do
not apologise profusely be
cause it can make the person
you apologise to feel they con
stantly need to reassure you.
Be selfaware of when to
take action and when to let go.
A second chance might occur
naturally sometimes, and so
metimes you need to work to
get them. In any situation, put
in honest eff orts.
............................................................
anuj.2@iitj.ac.in
Letters to the Magazine can be e-mailed separately to
mag.letters@thehindu.co.in
Cover story
Does the epic
preach ‘dharmic’
principles? (‘The
many layers of
the
Mahabharata’,
Sep.13) The
answer is yes
and no. My law
college lecturer
used to say that
all the characters
in the epic, with
its tales of
gambling, deceit
and war, can be
chargesheeted
for various
off ences under
the IPC today.
K. Pradeep
■ Historians and
Indologists agree that the
Mahabharata could not
have been authored by
one person. The epics
mention episodes and
attitudes that are often
700800 years apart. For
example, the epic shows
economic practices of
900 BCE but also
mentions the Greeks,
who came to India after
400 BCE. The didactic
section was added later
to the narrative section,
when the epic started to
be seen as a religious
text. However, its literary
merit is immense.
K.M.K. Murthy
■ When asked about
Yadava prince Krishna
representing
‘Brahminisation’, Sunil P.
Elayidom misquotes
Marxist historian
Kosambi to say that an
earlier Upanishad spoke
of Krishna as an asura.
Krishna is referred to in
the Chandogya
Upanishad but not as an
asura. Moreover, the
word asura in the Vedic
lexicon did not refer to a
nonAryan; the Vedic
gods Indra, Varuna and
Rudra were also referred
to as asuras in the Rig
Veda. While Elayidom’s
concern that one must
not allow texts like the
Mahabharata to be
hijacked by Hindutva
projects is valid, no less
valid are concerns that
these texts be saved
from Marxist
misrepresentations.
Ideology corrupts and
absolute ideology
corrupts absolutely.
G.L. Krishna
■ To assert a moral or
dharmic equivalence
between the Pandavas
and Kauravas is
tantamount to gross
misinterpretation. The
central question, ‘Did
dharma really win?’,
is answered by the fact
that characters like
Drona and Karna wilfully
off ered support to
Duryodhana, who
symbolised an arbitrary
oligarchy. The Pandavas
were not pictures of
purity, but their use of
deceit as a last resort is
valid because dharma
had a better chance of
being established under
their rule.
G. Parameswaran
Poetical genius
Except perhaps poet
K. Satchidanandan,
nobody comes close to
K. Ayyappa Paniker in
taking Malayalam poetry
to the international scene
and vice versa. (‘The
satirist who sang love
songs’; Sep. 13) An
iconoclast, he was the
trailblazer of modernism
and postmodernism in
Malayalam poetry.
Ayyasseri Raveendranath
Sensible move
The letter (‘Primetime
nonsense’; Sep. 13) by
Mr. Mathrubootham
makes a lot of sense to
those who want to stay
away from the senseless
shouting on news
channels. Perhaps he
should check whether
Mrs. M is watching these
channels on her phone.
B. Sundar Raman
■ I subscribe to The
Hindu on Sundays,
mainly to read Mr.
Mathrubootham’s
hilarious letters. I wish
you would publish a
compendium of his
selected letters.
Stanley Pinto
Holistic education
The ‘collective act of
undoing’ that Mathangi
Krishnamurthy proposes
(‘Learning in virtual
space’; Sep 13) seems
hopeful. The goal should
be to embrace the
essence of ‘education’
and not the mere act of
teaching.
Kavya Ranjit
Unknown delights
Meher Mirza gives a
delightful account of the
gastronomical joys of
Parsi society. (‘The joy of
eating’; Sep. 13) I hadn’t
heard of these lesser
known foods, and I
enjoyed the article.
Ajay Singha
More on the Web
thehindu.com/opinion/open-page
The mousetrap
Can rodents develop Stockholm Syndrome and be
come empathetic to their captors?
Hari Arayammakul
Gym and a sinful cake
To be avoided for its richness, but to be relished for
the love
K. Thammayya Udupa
Digitally divided homes
With just one laptop, online teaching has become a
source of daily arguments and fights
G. Ponnammal
Winning hearts with Indian food
Living it up with the spices and flavours of the land
in Geneva
Rani Devasar
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