'Gate-crashing' Indira's party

One nice thing about those good old days was that one could meet top political VVIPs without much hassle In the 1950s and to some extent in the earlier part of 1960s some of us could simply walk into Dehra Dunrsquos Circuit House to meet Mrs Indira Gandhi and even the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru My late lamented sister Neel Kamal was a big fan of Indira Gandhi and always wanted to meet her She wanted to write letters to her but didnrsquot know what and how to write I willingly became her ghostwriter Indira Gandhi flanked by the writer Raj Kanwar on the right and his sister Neel Kamal on the left The first letter to Mrs Gandhi praised her dress sense and the grace with which she carried herself The praise was subtle she was a role model and icon to the young generation It was 50 years later that the terms mdash ldquorole modelrdquo ldquoidolrdquo or ldquoiconrdquo came into vogue Then my sister wanted to meet her when she next visited Dehra Dun At that time Mrs Gandhi did not hold any official position except that she was the Prime Ministerrsquos daughter and his official hostess To our utter delight and surprise too we received a twoline positive response Mrs Gandhi would meet my sister when she next visited Dehra Dun My sister wanted to send a long letter in reply ldquoNothing doingrdquo I said Instead in just two sentences she wrote a ldquothank yourdquo letter We didnrsquot want to know the likely date of her visit to Dehra Dun As a journalist I would come to know of that in any case Neel Kamal was agog with anticipation ldquoWhat present should I give herrdquo She asked ldquoKnit her a blouserdquo I suggested without thinking much ldquoOh Thatrsquos a wonderful ideardquo Neel Kamal was fast and skillful at knitting The blouse was ready inthree days Then it waited giftpacked for Mrs Gandhi to arrive Mrs Gandhi came 15 days later Two of us cycled up the three kilometers distance to the Circuit House and reached its Porch short of breath The Circuit Housersquos in house lsquobearerrsquo Ram Prasad had known me as a journalist Mrs Gandhi had not by then come out of her room Fifteen minutes later she appeared in graceful splendour It was our first facetoface meeting with Indiraji Holding her nerves Neel Kamal first introduced herself in Hindi and then me The knitted blouse Kamal was the welfare officer in the Indian Red Cross attached to the Military Hospital Indiraji asked a couple of questions about the nature of her job then she talked with me for a while My sister found a brief break in the conversation and took out the gift packet it was our first time trying to give a present to a person of Indirajirsquos stature Kamal was at a loss for words Taking a deep breath I told Mrs Gandhi about the blouse that my sister had knitted for her and asked would she accept her humble gift As on cue Kamal took out the packet tore it open and pulled out the blouse and hung it in her hands like a saleswoman trying to impress a customer It was a beautiful blouse beige in colour Mrs Gandhi seemed to admire my sisterrsquos handiwork yet I wasnrsquot sure about Mrs Gandhirsquos response Before she could say ldquoThank yourdquo I said ldquoI hope the blouse would fit you and that you would like itrdquo or some such words to that effect With her inbred courtesy Mrs Gandhi thanked us and told my sister she shouldnrsquot have bothered about knitting the blouse Encouraged I elaborated that knitting was my sisterrsquos passion and that she could knit blindfold in a dark movie theatre while watching a picture Indiraji was not amused The two then talked briefly about knitting patterns That conversation went above my head She asked Ram Prasad to bring tea for us We sat there for about 20 minutes Indiraji left for the Doon School We cycled all the way back home greatly thrilled at our adventure My sister was on cloud nine and she didnrsquot talk anything else for next u00a0Fewfu00a0Subsequently I must have met Indiraji about halfadozen times Once Mrs Gandhi came to Dehra Dun around her birthday to celebrate it with sons Rajiv and Sanjay then in the Doon School Unknown to me my sister had knitted another blouse for Mrs Gandhi to be given as a birthday present She sought my advice on the best mode of its presentation November 19 was just a couple of days away and what better occasion could one find than her birthday for giving that unique present Rajiv and Sanjay Indiraji did not come very often to meet them but whenever she visited Dehra Dun she would bring the boys out if the schoolrsquos rules permitted Neither Pandit Nehru nor Indira Gandhi ever threw their weight around and behaved very deferentially with the then headmaster John Martyn and KC Joshi house master at the Kashmir House in which the two boys stayed Both Martyn and Joshi treated Nehru and Indiraji like they would treat any other grandparent or parent When my sister and I reached the Circuit House the morning of that November 19 we were told that Indiraji had gone to the Doon School to fetch her sons and will thereafter take the boys to Kwality restaurant for a treat We instantly decided that the restaurant would be a better option for our rendezvous with Indiraji Putting our cycles in the reverse gear we reached the restaurant in 20 minutes Diffidently we approached Indirajirsquos table unsure of the ldquoreceptionrdquo since I felt guiltily that we had intruded into the familyrsquos privacy Indiraji looked up curiously I nervously blurted out ldquoHappy birthday Indirajirdquo My sister took out the special blouse that she had knitted and I presented it to Indira Gandhi on her behalf She graciously accepted the gift Indiraji asked us to be seated We then joined Indiarsquos first family as its ldquogatecrashedrdquo guests Mrs Gandhi did not recall our names she introduced me as a young journalist to her sons I donrsquot now remember how the two boys had responded but I found them preoccupied in eating their ice cream A pound of stickjaws popularly known as Kwality toffees had been ordered and delivered for the boys Raj Kanwar is a Dehra Dunbased veteran journalist He has written several articles in down memory lane genre on Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhiu00a0