One Life Is Not Enough

Title: One Life Is Not Enough – An Autobiography

Author: Natwar Singh K

Publisher: Rupa Publications 2014 (First)

ISBN: 9788129132741

Pages: 410

Television became widespread in India only in the 1980s. Many of us were schoolchildren then, and we were glued to the TV sets, be it showing news, agricultural programs, movie or sports. Thankfully, the choice was easy as we had only the state-run Doordarshan to watch. News on TV meant never ending scenes of ministers inaugurating various projects, attending conferences and foreign visits. Today’s children won’t touch those programs even with a very long pole. But we enjoyed every bit of it, the novelty of seeing the whole world sitting in your room was so exhilarating. One of the familiar faces on TV along with that of Rajiv Gandhi, who was the prime minister, was that of Shri. Natwar Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs. He was very familiar to news watchers and had the glamour of resigning from the prestigious Indian Foreign Service to join politics. There is only one family that counts for anything in the Congress party then as well as now, and he was very close to it. He worked in various diplomatic missions abroad before quitting and joining the cabinet of Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. He produces nice reminiscences of events of those years in this book, which is very attractive to readers on account of its simple yet elegant diction. Readers are assured of a ringside view of what was going on inside the world’s largest democracy’s administration. His style is not humble, by any stretch of the imagination. Singh declares in the prologue that he does not believe in equality – fraternity yes, but no equality. Anyhow, he has succeeded in bringing out a thoroughly useful book for the casual reader.

The book presents a handy sketch of the person and administration of Jawaharlal Nehru. The nation’s first prime minister was also its most intellectual one so far. Having a natural turn to reading and having spent almost a decade in jail during the freedom struggle, Nehru was a very learned man and a voracious reader. But his vast knowledge imparted an air of condescension in his dealings with foreign leaders, and took the form of moralizing on the diplomatic arena. His foreign policy was a damp squib, with the Non-Aligned Group a non-starter because it was a B-team of the USSR. Nehru protested from the roof top when Britain invaded Egypt in 1956 when the Suez Canal was nationalized by them. In that same year, USSR invaded Hungary to crush the protests for democratic reforms and re-imposed the Communist Party’s dictatorship. But this time, Nehru’s tongue was tied. Natwar Singh identifies three blunders committed by Nehru which caused lasting damage to India. He carried the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council, thereby making it an international dispute. He moved the international body under Chapter 6 of its Charter dealing with disputes, while it should have been filed under Chapter 7, concerned with aggression from a foreign country. In all these vexed issues, Nehru readily accepted the flawed advice offered by Lord Mountbatten, who had a different agenda than that of the Indian government. He was asked to continue as Governor General of free India by Nehru. What prompted him to make this strange request raises several unsavoury questions regarding Nehru’s alleged relationship with Edwina, the Governor General’s wife. Was he trying to prolong the couple’s stay in India at a great cost to national interest? Singh also mentions that what Nehru did immediately after returning from his Chinese visit in 1954 was to apprise Lady Mountbatten (of all people!) about the developments on his visit which might be construed as breach of the oath of secrecy. The miserably lost war with China personally devastated Nehru. Indian army’s humiliating defeat prompted him to accept U.S. military aid. Singh attaches two such letters written by Nehru to President Kennedy, literally begging him to provide military equipment and staff during the war with China. Diehard patriots would find it difficult to read the letters without heartburn. But the single most terrible setback for modern India was his refusal to accept a permanent seat at the UN Security Council when it was offered by the USSR on the ground that only China has the moral right to be there! All such moral postures were flown to the winds when India forcibly liberated Goa from Portuguese control. Western media flayed him for this misdemeanor from one who preaches to the world about what is morally right.

An aristocratic birth in India guarantees connections at the highest levels and and an exalted career. Belonging to a prominent family of Bharatpur, having relationship with royalty and having married the daughter of the Maharajah of Patiala, Natwar Singh was the epitome of the bureaucrat who could talk in private with the prime minister at any time – and to a person no less than Indira Gandhi! She signed as a witness to the author’s marriage and his warm relationship with her aunts ensured Indira’s constant attention on Singh. This was a tricky issue when Emergency was proclaimed in 1975. The book contains passages in which the author, who was in London at that time, speaking out against it. This is far from convincing. The ire he received from the Janata Party leaders, who trounced Congress in the very next election after lifting Emergency, stands in silent testimony to his activities, or at least its perception by opposition leaders. He was shunted to Zambia by the Janata government. Natwar Singh exhibited an attitude bordering on arrogant contempt to Prime Minister Morarji Desai. He ridicules Desai’s eating habits and takes a dig at his drinking habit, which in fact included urine! Singh even refused to introduce his pretty wife to Desai even though the prime minister actually requested it during a friendly talk. Singh’s guilt is mitigated somewhat by the fact that Desai reciprocated his feelings in equal measure. His star shone brightly when Indira returned to power. He resigned from his official post with five years to go for retirement and managed a seat from Indira to contest in the very next parliamentary election. He planned for a Rajya Sabha seat, but the power brokers of Indira got jealous of him and allotted the Bharatpur Lok Sabha seat, his own constituency. He also got decorated with Padma Bhushan when she was in power.

The author is unusually candid towards Rajiv Gandhi at whose cabinet he served as a minister of state. Every stage of Rajiv’s disastrous Sri Lanka policy is outlined in clear detail, including India’s open consultations with LTTE and its leader V. Prabhakaran. Rajiv pay rolled LTTE which finally took his life. We see Rajiv as a weak administrator after 1987 when he feigned ignorance of Operation Brasstacks which was the largest military exercise held very close to the Pak border. He even asked the author whether India would go to war with Pakistan, reflecting a clear lack of understanding of what’s going on. Singh blames the coterie that surrounded Rajiv for what took place, but falls short of directly naming them. They are described as three ignoramuses with inflated egos, one a socialist, one inept political wheeler-dealer and the third a meddling nuisance (p.275). But watchful readers need only turn to p.234-35 to get their names as M L Fotedar, Arun Singh and Arun Nehru. The author could have saved the trouble.

Natwar Singh fell from grace in 2005 while serving at the pinnacle of his career as India’s external affairs minister. His name appeared in a UN report that exposed the corrupt deals made by Saddam Hussein of Iraq as part of the Oil for Food Programme implemented by UN. Congress party asked for resignation which transformed the author to a ferocious, wounded tiger. He attacks each and every person who asked him to step down, even though they were only sacking a tainted colleague. He flays Manmohan Singh as a decent though spineless man, who never stands up for his colleagues (p.322). Natwar Singh owes his cabinet berth to Sonia Gandhi, but she suddenly becomes persona non grata as ‘exercising power without responsibility and indulging in backseat driving’. Paul Volcker, the former chairman of U.S. Federal Reserve who drafted the UN report that indicted Singh is said to be biased. Even Justice R S Pathak, who investigated the case, is not spared, as the author alleges Pathak’s father to have approached him twenty years back with a request for a job in the International Court of Justice. The allegations are directionless and much mudslinging is done by the author who is infuriated at the prospect of being called corrupt.

Having a wide experience in book reviews and an avid reader himself, Singh identifies understatement, restraint and objectivity to have a paralyzing effect on an autobiography. True to the norm, it should as subjective as it could be. Two halves are clearly discernible in the text. The half that ends with his becoming a minister is witty, having many anecdotes and down to earth observations. But the latter half is in stark contrast to this. The author seems to have lost his grip on humour the moment he took the oath of office as a minister. Here, it takes on the appearance of a diary, with dry recordings of happenings. Verbatim accounts of speeches and meetings make this half more lackluster. The book boasts a good index and a number of colour plates. A chronology of events would be a nice addition to the second edition.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star