Book Name: Treasured Epistles
Author: K. Natwar Singh
Publisher: Rupa
Rating: 3.8/5
Book Blurb: K. Natwar Singh’s multi-faceted life has been immensely enriched by his gift for friendship and personal relations. The letters in this remarkable volume are a striking testimony of his ability to relate to a variety of distinguished individuals. Those who regularly wrote to him included friends, contemporaries and colleagues, from the days of his foreign service to ambassadorship, to recent days as minister of foreign affairs. Some of his friends whose letters are featured here include Indira Gandhi, E.M. Forster, C. Rajagopalachari ‘Rajaji’, Lord Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru’s two sisters Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Krishna Hutheesing, R.K. Narayan, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Mulk Raj Anand and Han Suyin.
Review: Treasured Epistles is a collection of letters of important people to K. Natwar Singh. Singh worked for many years for the government of India in various capacities and his books have always offered a keen insight into how government functions in India. In a sense, he has become an important chronicler of post independent India.
This book has letters from Nirad C. Chaudhuri, the writer and many politicians notably among them- Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Vijaylakshmi Pandit and others.
There are many letters of Nirad C. Chaudhuri and he was a towering presence and has inspired many Indian writers and there are perhaps very few books that provide an insight into the life of the man.
Through these letters, readers may get to know the men behind them and the political and social scenarios of the period. A well compiled book but perhaps more pictures would have been better.