by A. J. PHILIP
So when Dr Mathew invites me to various functions at the ISS, I am unable to say no. But early this month, when he invited me for a meeting in memory of the Czech leader Vaclav Havel, who died on December 18, 2011, I was happy that he remembered me. Few world leaders have influenced public opinion as this playwright-turned-president who coined such powerful phrases as “power of the powerless” and “living in truth”.
The irony of Dr Mathew, “a Communist”, organising a meeting in the memory of a leader who fought against Communism, was not lost on Mani Shankar Aiyar, who was the chief guest at the function. I used to be in regular touch with Aiyar when he used to write a column for the “Indian Express”. Whether he was at Mailaduthurai in Tamil Nadu seeking votes or attending a conference on Palestine in Egypt, he would ensure that the column reached me well before the deadline. And I felt happy if I could find a grammatical or spelling error in his manuscript.
Indian Currents for more