Farah's Stories

The dreaded moment came when the Mounbattens went down the line of assembled dignitaries to shake their hands in  a final farewell. When she extended her hand to Nehru, he took her gloved hand in both of his and tenderly raised it to his lips.  That gesture is enshrined in a historic photograph. In his speech bidding the Mounbattens farewell, Nehru said of lady Mountbatten: " The gods gave you beauty and  intelligence and grace and charm. But they also gave you something that is rarer than those great gifts: they gave  you the human touch, the love of humanity, and the urge to help the suffering and those who are in distress." Lady Mountbatten burst into tears at those words, finally giving in to her grief at the parting. The new Governor General, Rajagopalachari told Lord Mounbatten in his speech, "You and Lady Mounbatten have  left us with a tender kiss. Long live Britain ! Long live India ! That cry was echoed by the crowd of millions who thronged the streets

But Edwina Mounbatten  persuaded Nehru to take a short break at Mashobra, a few miles from Simla where he could unwind and think and get past his wish to resign.  "Getting you to Mashobra has become my obsession," she wrote to him. And so Lord and Lady Mountbatten set off in a convertible Buick from Delhi for Mashobra. As the car climbed climbed higher into the Himalayan foothills, Nehru's mood improved in direct proportion to the altitude. They were accompanied by the Mountbatten's younger daughter Pamela. There is a photograph of them in the car, Lord Mountbatten at the wheel, with Pamela beside him, and Nehru and  Lady Mountbatten in the back seat, all four looking relaxed and happy. Nehru and lady Mounbatten walked and ralked unde the pines and Lord Mountbatten wrote to his older daughter, Patricia,  "They really dote on each other in the nicest way, each listening intently to the other ." Years later, as prime Minister of India, Nehru would quote his

   Nehru first met the Mountbattens in Singapore, four days before they arrived in India  as the last Viceroy and Vicereine of India.  He was there at Lord Mountbatten's invitation to restore peace in Singapore. A large contingent of Indians turned up to welcome Nehru at Government House  where he was staying as a guest of the Mountbattens.  In their adulation for Nehru, the  Indians became unruly and broke into the grounds  where  Lady Mountbatten had set up a tent for  St. John Ambulance Canteen on the lawn.   Lady Mountbatten was accidentally knocked to the ground in the stampede. "Your wife ! Your wife ! We must go to her!" shouted Nehru and both men rushed to help Lady Mountbatten. They could hardly have met under more informal circumstances. Lord Mountbatten, who doted on his wife, at once took a shine to Nehru.  The negotiations for the Transfer of Power that began on 22nd March are outside the scope of this essay. But by September, when the rioting over the P