The original Bahubali

On a visit to India, US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger indicated that, in the event of a war, India could not count on the US to play any part against Pakistan.

India needed friends. With the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace and Friendship sewn up, Indira Gandhi flew off on a twenty-one-day tour of Europe and America to build opinion among intellectuals and in the media. In a BBC interview, asked why India should not show more restraint on Bangladesh, with eyes flashing, Indira snapped, ‘When Hitler was on the rampage why didn’t you say let’s keep quiet, let’s have peace with Germany and let the Jews die?’ ‘That woman will not cow me down,’ fulminated Yahya Khan in an apparently drunken outburst. ‘I am not concerned with the remark,’ retorted Indira in response, ‘it shows the mentality of the person.’

She flew to the US in a last-ditch attempt to get the Americans to put pressure on Yahya Khan. But Indira, the tough lady from Delhi and Nixon, the ruthless Republican from California detested each other from the start. Nixon, according to Gary J Bass, found Indians repellent, was rude, snarled that Indira was ‘the old bitch’, and even said, ‘I don’t know why the hell anybody would reproduce in that damn country but they do’. Indira treated Nixon with the elegant condescension of a ‘professor praising a slightly backward student’, which Nixon found intolerable.

Former bureaucrat Moni Malhoutra recalls that at the state dinner that Nixon gave for Indira, she sat at the head of the U-shaped table next to the president, keeping her eyes completely closed through the dinner and refusing to speak. As she sat with her eyes closed, Nixon grew nervous. If he asked her a question, her answer would be laconic. She sat stock-still in front of all the guests with her eyes firmly closed all through a formal banquet. It was Indira’s version of a classy but deadly snub.

confuzzled dude wrote:

On a visit to India, US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger indicated that, in the event of a war, India could not count on the US to play any part against Pakistan.

India needed friends. With the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace and Friendship sewn up, Indira Gandhi flew off on a twenty-one-day tour of Europe and America to build opinion among intellectuals and in the media. In a BBC interview, asked why India should not show more restraint on Bangladesh, with eyes flashing, Indira snapped, ‘When Hitler was on the rampage why didn’t you say let’s keep quiet, let’s have peace with Germany and let the Jews die?’ ‘That woman will not cow me down,’ fulminated Yahya Khan in an apparently drunken outburst. ‘I am not concerned with the remark,’ retorted Indira in response, ‘it shows the mentality of the person.’

She flew to the US in a last-ditch attempt to get the Americans to put pressure on Yahya Khan. But Indira, the tough lady from Delhi and Nixon, the ruthless Republican from California detested each other from the start. Nixon, according to Gary J Bass, found Indians repellent, was rude, snarled that Indira was ‘the old bitch’, and even said, ‘I don’t know why the hell anybody would reproduce in that damn country but they do’. Indira treated Nixon with the elegant condescension of a ‘professor praising a slightly backward student’, which Nixon found intolerable.

Former bureaucrat Moni Malhoutra recalls that at the state dinner that Nixon gave for Indira, she sat at the head of the U-shaped table next to the president, keeping her eyes completely closed through the dinner and refusing to speak. As she sat with her eyes closed, Nixon grew nervous. If he asked her a question, her answer would be laconic. She sat stock-still in front of all the guests with her eyes firmly closed all through a formal banquet. It was Indira’s version of a classy but deadly snub.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/books/excerpt-indira-india-s-most-powerful-prime-minister-by-sagarika-ghose/story-WNbx41mm1aO8zGydQkt6iI.html

No bear hugs, no patting each others back; that should give our 56-incher a clue or two.

confuzzled dude wrote:

On a visit to India, US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger indicated that, in the event of a war, India could not count on the US to play any part against Pakistan.

India needed friends. With the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace and Friendship sewn up, Indira Gandhi flew off on a twenty-one-day tour of Europe and America to build opinion among intellectuals and in the media. In a BBC interview, asked why India should not show more restraint on Bangladesh, with eyes flashing, Indira snapped, ‘When Hitler was on the rampage why didn’t you say let’s keep quiet, let’s have peace with Germany and let the Jews die?’ ‘That woman will not cow me down,’ fulminated Yahya Khan in an apparently drunken outburst. ‘I am not concerned with the remark,’ retorted Indira in response, ‘it shows the mentality of the person.’

She flew to the US in a last-ditch attempt to get the Americans to put pressure on Yahya Khan. But Indira, the tough lady from Delhi and Nixon, the ruthless Republican from California detested each other from the start. Nixon, according to Gary J Bass, found Indians repellent, was rude, snarled that Indira was ‘the old bitch’, and even said, ‘I don’t know why the hell anybody would reproduce in that damn country but they do’. Indira treated Nixon with the elegant condescension of a ‘professor praising a slightly backward student’, which Nixon found intolerable.

Former bureaucrat Moni Malhoutra recalls that at the state dinner that Nixon gave for Indira, she sat at the head of the U-shaped table next to the president, keeping her eyes completely closed through the dinner and refusing to speak. As she sat with her eyes closed, Nixon grew nervous. If he asked her a question, her answer would be laconic. She sat stock-still in front of all the guests with her eyes firmly closed all through a formal banquet. It was Indira’s version of a classy but deadly snub.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/books/excerpt-indira-india-s-most-powerful-prime-minister-by-sagarika-ghose/story-WNbx41mm1aO8zGydQkt6iI.html

No bear hugs, no patting each others back; that should give our 56-incher a clue or two.