March 5, 1962

Mr. B. Sahai
Chief Commissioner of Delhi
New Delhi, India

Dear Mr. Sahai:

Upon my return to this country from Asia a few weeks ago, I found that I had to go off to Europe. This is, therefore, the first opportunity I have had to write you.

I very much enjoyed the two occasions on which I visited your home, and also the dinner in Old Delhi. I learned a great deal about Nepal and other things from you.

It was a great pleasure to see your beautiful paintings and sculpture, and I was most impressed by them.

I hope we will stay in touch.

Kind regards.

BY AIR MAIL

The Statesman
LTD.

POST BOX NO. 272 G. P. O.

Reg'd. Office:
4, Chowringhee Square,
CALCUTTA 1.

TEL. 23-5361--5369.

October 12, 1962

My dear Dr Kissinger,

I am back at my desk now, measuring once again space and
events in column-inches.

My two weeks' extra stay in the USA was both fruitful and
instructive. I must thank you once again for, first, inviting
me to the seminar, and, again for making my extra stay in the
USA possible.

Unfortunately, the newsprint position in my country has
further deteriorated and almost every paper here has had to
cut down its size. I am unable therefore to make immediate
use of my travel, but hope to do so in the near future. >

I deliberately avoided giving you my immediate impressions
about the seminar because time and further travel, I thought,
would enable me to give you a maturer reaction.

I am glad I delayed my comment, for, what bothered me most
then, but bothers me no more, was the lack of a hinge in the
dormitory bathroom, meant to be used by three. Marcoralle,
Benju and I solved the problem by a gentleman's agreement to
knock the door before opening it. I do not know how other
seminarians solved the problem, or, whether or not they
considered it a problem at all. I was irritated too then but
I am irritated no more at a second berth over my bed, which
obstructed light and thereby prevented me from reading, as is
my habit, while inviting sleep. My room was too small to
change the angle of the bed or to detach the berth and place
it on the floor.

Most American are ignorant about India, but those who claim
to know something about our ancient culture, are the dangerous
ones. Even at the risk of being ungallant I cannot help
pointing out that a charming American hostess, with genuine
interest in Indians, offered Scotch and Vodka to everybody
but restricted my choice to pineapple juice or coca-cola.

- 2 -

Her knowledge of India had led her to believe that no Indian
ever drank.

Trivialities apart, I have returned a great enthusiast
about the seminar and its possibilities. I like to believe
I have widened my outlook, made so many friends in so many
countries, and have returned with better appreciation of
American thought and outlook.

I believe, however, that there is scope for improvement
in the way the seminar is run and may be my comment would
interest you.

To me the weakest point of the seminar appeared to be the
intellectual performance during the seminar discussions, of
the seminarians themselves. Their carping criticism of
Prof Latham, whom they accused of talking in too general and
too schoolteacherish a way, had led me to expect some profound
and philosophic exposition of subjects dear to their heart.
But they talked inanities, when they were not talking absolute
gibberish. You are the best judge of why you spend money on
seminarians, but I for one would consider exchange of such
information as "the Equator passes through Africa" or
"the Philippines consists of about 700 big or small islands"
or "the U.K. has Right-wing parties" as sheer waste of time.
A deeper, freer and franker analysis of national problems,
I think, is called for. I say freer and franker because most
seminarians seemed to be tottering under the weight of their
office and eminence. It was not unusual to hear members
preface their speeches by "of course, I must not be understood
to represent the views of my party" or "my countries policy".
So far my impression goes, seminarians were selected for their
individual worth and invited in their individual capacity, and,
to express their own views and not the official views of their
countries. The seminar, I believe, should not be turned into
a miniature U.N. We should leave diplomacy to professional
diplomats.

How this can be avoided in future I cannot suggest, except
to say, that you should invite more study individualists to
the seminar.

And a possible way to improve the level of discussion of
the seminar would be to give sufficiently early notice of
things expected of the seminar members - this was not done
this year - so that they can come prepared for serious and
coherent discussion.

- 3 -

Also more time should be made available to the seminarians to express their ideas. In the Politics and Economics group not everyone had the chance to speak and those who had were told to confine themselves to 30 minutes. In a seminar lasting seven weeks this seems totally inadequate. I think the discussions can be held for longer periods and for more than three days a week without unduly tiring the members. Also Economics and Politics should be two separate groups. I think a better approach would be to have more intensive discussions for four weeks and devote the next three weeks to visits to other parts of the USA, if you can manage funds.

I was lucky in being selected and financed for extra two weeks' tour of the USA. I am, as I have already said, grateful to you for that. But I was sorry to see some other members, very keen on staying in the USA for some time more, and not being able to do so.

Most of those who attended the seminar are earners and they could afford an extra stay if only their Governments allowed them foreign exchange. And since the foreign exchange position of most countries is not going to substantially improve in the foreseeable future the money restrictions are likely to continue. Hence the need of your arranging a trip to some parts of the USA for any seminar member who wants it and also the necessity of a somewhat more generous weekly allowance.

If the general forum is to be restricted to one a week, I do not see how it can be arranged differently. Only a maturer person than Hutchins should preside over these meetings.

I understand you intend visiting India again. I shall be happy to welcome you to my flat.

With my good wishes to Mrs Kissinger,

Dr Henry A. Kissinger,
6, Divinity Avenue,
CAMBRIDGE 38,
MASSACHUSETTS.

STATESMAN HOUSE,
CALCUTTA.

February, 27, 1963.

Dear Dr Kissinger,

Your offer to consider Hamdi Bey's application at this
late stage has been most generous. I have no doubt you
will find him a worthy candidate. Bey had promised to
apply, but had been hesitating to do so because of his age.

I was interested to learn of your trip to
the West coast. I am sure your lectures must have been as
stimulating as they were to us.

Enclosed are some more reviews and two short
editorials written by me.

Regards.

TRUTHFUL ABROAD

The Diplomatic Career. By Lord Strang. (André Deutsch, 16s.)

Lord Strang served the British Foreign Service for 34 years, topping it off with the Under-Secretaryship of State. In the eight addresses (one broadcast) included in his volume he tells simply and lucidly the way the Foreign Office is organized and run and about the men who run it. He insists that the diplomatist is not a vanishing species, that he need not be the third cousin of an Earl, and that he is not sent "abroad to lie for the good of his country". To the well known quip of Sir Henry Wotton, he adds his (Sir Henry's) little known assertion: "In my earlier years, I made a vow to God not to tell lies, even if the world would perish; and if deceits and artifices are the means by which ambassadors help on their work, I may as well give up and go home when I like."

Truth, reliability, adaptability, a keen mind, and gentle manners, Lord Strang says, are the qualifications of the diplomatist. To this Chester Bowles, himself a great practitioner of this art, has this to add: "Although personal charm, an attractive wife, political perceptiveness and analytical ability are still highly useful they are no longer enough." The modern ambassador must be a capable administrator, a creative leader and a diplomatist of tact and persuasiveness.

prisonment of Mahatma Gandhi. Mr Nehru and 60,000 of the followers. I was lunching at the National Liberal Club with prominent Indian—I think was Mr Vallabbhai Patel—when the news came through He challenged me to do something drastic about it in the House of Commons.

"I will" I said.

Parliament was just going into recess. After the Questions period next day I rose and asked for an immediate opportunity to discuss the events in India. The request was refused. I asked for an opportunity before Parliament went on vacation. The request was refused. Then, although I knew I was out of order, I launched out in a vigorous

So you do
in gh

A 16-year-old salesgirl fainted clean away when a packet of bicarbonate of soda floated across the supermarket for the sixth time in eight days. But in those eight days in the middle of November. in the year of Telstar. 1962. a poltergeist's supernatural tricks forced the store to close and the local vicar to hold a service to try to exorcise the spirit.

Goods in the supermarket in the English country village of Long Wittenham. Berkshire, were swopped around on the

INCONGRUOUS TASKS

MR S. K. Dey's strictures on the Bihar Government for entrusting the contradictory tasks of development and rent collection to the same functionary have not come too soon. The wonder is that the Ministry of Community Development did not draw attention to the matter before. The undesirability of asking an official, as Block Development Officer, to teach villagers how best to increase the food yield in one season of the year, and of prodding him to collect land and other dues in the next should have been apparent, as indeed it was soon to the young officers themselves. Why no notice was taken of their experience is a mystery. though perhaps not to those aware of the immobility of the official machine.

The initial, and vital harm, has already been done. Villagers do not look upon BDOs as their leaders, as it was hoped they would, though the causes are many. How the Chief Minister, who is reported to have promised action, will remove the administrative anomaly remains to be seen. To bifurcate the posts of Anchal Adhikari and BDO may be beyond the resources of the State, even if competent personnel were available. To downgrade the post of rent collection, which also carries with it the task of maintenance of peace and order, may be hazardous.

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BUILDING & CON

ALL IN THE GAME (pg)

ADVERSE results have seldom curbed fallible man's weakness for crystal-gazing. To the ancient and somewhat discredited status of the fortune-teller have now come the weather man, the polls pundit, the racing correspondent, the cricket commentator, and of course, the trader in futures. As often as not, the sun shines brightly when we are promised heavy weather; a Truman continues in the White House long after political pronouncements have written him off; from nowhere a dark, dyspeptic horse appears at the winning post to upset the expert's forecast: and a Test match ends in a dull draw when we expected an exciting finish.

When the unexpected does happen, explanations are found, the incident is quickly forgotten, and forecasts are made once again with undiminished zeal. That is only natural, for experts do only what laymen expect of them. Punters who are after a racing correspondent's blood one afternoon invariably consult him the following week. Cricket fans who discard their favourite writer for wrong predictions are hard to find. In life much is uncertain; it would also be painfully dull if the expert was always, or even often, proved to be right.

SHIP'S CAPTAIN
GETTING BETTER

By a Staff Reporter

Captain J. Thomson of s.s. Ar-daman, who by mistake drank sulphuric acid instead of gin, recovering fast from the effects of the "drink".

A doctor of the Sukhlal Ka-nani Memorial Hospital, Calcutta, told me at about 1 p.m. on Saturday that the patient, a British citizen, was at the moment reading a newspaper. He might be released from hospital within couple of days.

DOUBLE BALL-BEARING
DOUBLE SAVING WITH
*AirOn* FANS

STATESMAN HOUSE,
CALCUTTA.

April 4, 1963.

Dear Dr Kissinger,

How can the silliest, stupidest, and shall
I say, the incompetently, intelligence
service in the world ever spy on you? Imagine
14 Chinese Divisions massed across our border
and this blessed service not knowing about it.
I am inclined to believe every petty thief in
Calcutta has more wits than our intelligence
men.

I knew about your trip because you wrote
about it.

A Harvard boy who saw me here, has now
written from Kathmandu to say that he travelled
some distance with the American Everest
expedition. He informs me that the team is
carrying 800 rolls of toilet paper. I am
impressed; I stagger.

Thanks for your generous words about my
reviews.

CVRG
DIVISION

STATESMAN HOUSE,
CALCUTTA.

July 3, 1963.

Dear Dr. Kissinger,

Hamdi Bey has, after all, left for Harvard. His selection, as I have said earlier, has been a matter of personal gratification to me, and I must thank you once again for the great trust in me.

Bey was in a hurry and so was I. I just managed to hand him over a small present to you and Mrs Kissinger from my wife and me. But I could not even send an accompanying letter. I hope you will not mind it and accept this small token of regard for you and your wife.

The seminar has been my best luck in recent years; I recall it with very great pleasure. Among the constant well-wishers of the seminar you may count me one.

The Statesman
LTD.

POST BOX NO. 272 G.P.O.

Reg'd. Office :
4, Chowringhee Square,
CALCUTTA-1.
TEL. 23-5361-5369

December 4, 1963

Dear Dr Kissinger,

The assassination of Mr Kennedy is an
undoubted national tragedy and to you, who
were so near to him, it must be intensely
personal.

I am amzed at the Indian ci indignat
ion at the murder and the cutting attached
will show the reaction of the common man
here. This is in addition to the daily
condolence meetings and church prayers being
held here. This had never been done before
for any national & international person-
ality--except Mahatma Gandhi.

With regards,

Sincerely yours

STATESMAN HOUSE,
CALCUTTA.

March, 15.

Dear Dr Kissinger,

I shall be delighted to meet you, but have you any
immediate plans to come to Calcutta? If you have, please
do let me know.

I was happy to learn from your earlier letter
that more and more bright people are applying for the
seminar. This is as it should be. Personal choices do not
matter so much, though, naturally, I would be happy if any
one I recommend is selected.