NEHRU AND LADY MOUNTBATTEN (Part Two)
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
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