The National Day Receptions were glittering occasions which enabled us to meet our own counterparts from other Embassies. Old photographs revive memories of past friendships. Our lives were enriched by reaching across national borders, to find that despite linguistic or cultural differences, we were fellow travellers in distant lands
by Girija Madhavan
My husband, A. Madhavan and I started life in the Indian Foreign Service in Rangoon [Yangon, Myanmar] from 1958 to 1961. Over thirty three years, we lived in nine posts abroad and two in New Delhi. We wandered from one metropolis to another, facing linguistic and life style challenges in different settings. We confronted cultural, climatic and political problems in some countries; we also experienced moments of delight in others. Such are the coloured skeins woven into the tapestry of our memories. Meeting people of different nationalities and cultures and forging friendships with them has been fulfilling.
The “Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations” was formed in 1947 from the former “Foreign and Political Department” of the British Indian Government. The Indian Foreign Service [IFS] started in 1948, is its diplomatic wing. It is distinct from the Indian Forest Service, also “IFS,” which can be confusing. Among the early Indian diplomats is Sri V. Siddharthacharry of Acharya Vidya Kula, Mysuru. The first recruits were selected by of the Union Public Services Commission in 1948. Madhavan was a member of the batch of 1956. He was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge as part of his training. Burmese was his “Compulsory Foreign Language.” He also had to pass a Departmental exam in Hindi which he did not know. The poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, father of Amitabh Bachchan, headed the Department of Hindi. This was the only exam in which Madhavan did not do well!
Now, IFS Trainees go to the Lal Bahadur National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. Earlier it was in Metcalfe House, Delhi, near the Jamuna River. The training with the Police included horse riding. Madhavan remembers a Police horse which would obstinately try to trot back to its stable with him on its back in the middle of the exercise.
I first heard the words “Ambassador” and “Embassy” as a girl of twelve. This was when Dr. S. Radhakrishnan came to Yadavagiri, Mysuru, for the wedding of his son, Dr. S. Gopal, to a Mysurean bride. At that time he was the Ambassador of India to the USSR [1949 to 1952] and had come from Moscow for the wedding.
The bride was “Kaveri”, later re-named “Indira” by her parents-in-law. She was the second daughter of Dr. and Mrs. H.V. Ramaswamy, our close friends and a respected Mysurean family. They belonged to the Babboor Kamme community and hailed from Belavadi. Kaveri was tall, lovely and highly educated. The Ramaswamy home still stands in Yadavagiri and now houses the “Hobby Centre” for young people.
I remember Dr. Radhakrishnan walking down Vivekananda Road to the wedding venue in a gas lit marriage procession, standing out among the glittering, sari clad participants, a striking figure in a white Achkan and dhoti, worn in the “panchakaccham” style.
In 1959 we settled into the diplomatic circuit, the youngest in the official hierarchy. Getting on with our Embassy folk, Burmese officials and our neighbours was not so hard. At the core, diplomacy is what is known as “Jana Balike” in Kannada. The intricacies of protocol and entertaining were more complex. Now the Ministry of External Affairs arranges courses for young Indian diplomats and their spouses on etiquette, table arrangements and menus. Coming from a small town, I only knew of Rotary events in Hotel Metropole or Hotel Krishnaraja Sagara which I attended with my parents. Those parties were unlike the formal events we were invited to or had to host. We learnt by observing and adjusting. The National Day Receptions were glittering occasions which enabled us to meet our own counterparts from other Embassies. Old photographs revive memories of past friendships. Our lives were enriched by reaching across national borders, to find that despite linguistic or cultural differences, we were fellow travellers in distant lands.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / November 28th, 2016