Raj rewound
Reviewed by Cookie Maini

Reliving the Raj: Daughter of Empire
By Pamela Hicks Hachette, London. 
Pages 262. Rs 699

i was fortunate enough to visit the stately British Mansion "Broadlands" of the Mountbattens when I visited Southhampton for a conference commemorating 60 years of Indian Independence. Even though the Mountbattens' stint in India was barely 15 months, it apparently remained etched in their mindscape.

Pamela Hicks has culled from her mindscape and written her autobiography, enumerating her experiences as a "Daughter of the Empire." Pamela Hicks quite obviously had a remarkable lineage owing to which she was exposed to a critical era in the history as the last bugle of a waning Empire was played in the jewel in the colonial crown. Her family could boast of a great aunt who was a Tsarina of Russia, Queen Victoria as a great-grandmother, and of course, she is the daughter of Lord and Lady Mountbatten. When the war broke out, her father was appointed as the Viceroy of India to oversee the transfer of power to the Indian Government. Amid the turmoil of political change she came of age, meeting student and youth leaders working in the canteen for Allied Forces and, in a clinic outside Delhi as well as striking a friendship with Gandhi and Nehru, about who she says: "I realized Gandhi and Nehru were the most extraordinary people I met."

Her memoirs, the earlier one and this, amply bear out that the privilege has not been wasted on her. She has crafted very deftly pen-portraits of various historical figures. As her story unfolds in the earlier part, she recapitulates their global travels and in the middle of the book, she arrives to the heat and haze of Delhi but

She certainly was a daughter of the Raj, a witness to the Empire not only at its high noon but also at its dusk.

Any mention of the Mountbatten, the inevitable question that arises is the implicit mystique of the Nehru-Lady Mountbatten liaison, it is most interesting that Pamela finds Pandit Nehru endearing and acquiesces of the relationship as does her father.

However, she clarifies that it was a platonic and spiritual companionship not a ménage a trois as some believed. While visiting the Broadlands, the thought had haunted me as well. "There was no sign at this time that my mother's regard for Nehru was anything other than deep friendship, but during a short break at the Retreat in the Himalayas to help him recover his energy, a profound connection developed between them. Now, just six weeks before we were due to leave India, she found in Panditji the companionship and equality of spirit and intellect she craved. Each helped overcome loneliness in the other." (Page 173).

She concludes the book on a most beautiful note about her mother's coffin, which according to her wishes was buried at sea — inevitably "waiting a respectful distance away was the Indian frigate INS Trishal and as we streamed away she took our place and, on Panditji's instructions, marigolds were scattered upon the waves." (Page 260).

An interesting autobiography with personal insights into the Indian Independence and personal relationships of various historical icons, sometimes the dregs of old wine are apparent which reveal a hangover of the Raj.

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