End of a colossus

Chandigarh, Tuesday, October 8, 1974

THE great Krishna Menon is dead, but Menonism is not. It will live in the hearts of men and women living far and wide. His talent and brilliance were seldom questioned, though his temper and abrasiveness often were. In his book After Nehru, Who? Welles Hangen described him as “the most fascinating man in India and the main topic of discussion among diplomats, journalists and politicians in Delhi.” While countless people admired him as “India’s gray eminence”, there were many who thought he was just a cynic. Apparently, they knew just a little of him. Conflict was admittedly the thread of his life. But Menon was nothing if not a man of his convictions. For years, hatred of him “became a frame of mind, a kind of eleventh commandment”, and he had very few true friends. Outstanding among this discriminating set was Jawaharlal Nehru, who was Menon’s redeemer and much more. It was Nehru who rescued him from virtual squalor in the UK and defended him against foreign and domestic enemies. “There are some in India and abroad,” Nehru said in 1957, “whose job in life appears to be to run down Menon because he is far cleverer than they are and because his record of service for Indian freedom is far longer than theirs.” On another occasion, Nehru told a former Union Minister: “Menon has a colossal intellect. I wish I were more clever.” Like several other geniuses, Menon knew his worth, and he knew also how to put his many critics in their proper place. Sure of his foresight, he once boasted, “What I have to say is not meant for today or for next year but for a generation or more hence, when people are ready to accept what today they criticise.”