A remarkable Indian you never heard of

[prasad1]

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There are not many people who will tick the following boxes:
A close aide of Netaji.
A close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Someone who Indira Gandhi relied on and trusted.
But add to the above list a person who was also an Indian journalist in Europe in the tumultuous days preceding and during the Second World War, there is really no one, one can pinpoint.
But then, Arathil Candoth Narayanan Nambiar is not a name that will ring a bell, simply for the fact that for the most part, he operated in the shadows where statecraft and secrecy overlap, and he preferred to live in the shadow, maintain a low profile.
In April 1980, when Vappala Balachandran, a senior intelligence officer who was special secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, was assigned the task of keeping a discreet eye on the health and welfare of Nambiar -- Nanu to friends -- he had no idea that the meeting will form a solid bond that will last beyond the latter's death six years later.
Nambiar's life was extraordinary, to say the least, intricately linked as it was to momentous turns in history, when he was both a player and an observer.
Having lived in Europe for five decades, he was witness to and entangled with what we today -- with the benefit of hindsight -- call recent history.
Yet, even as the two men spent time together, discussing, dissecting the days bygone, and the characters that shaped the world we inhabit today, Balachandran would realise only 15 years later that what he had been told was not the complete picture.
Or that unravelling it would become a mission for him.
"I came across startling details during my long research into his life first by reading published literature and then scouring through declassified secret intelligence records."
A Life in Shadow, The Secret Story of CAN Nambiar, then, is the outcome of the long and hard pursuit by Balachandran to fill in the gaps in Nanu's life. His wonder at what he managed to find out about Nambiar's remarkable life comes through in the book, published recently by Roli Books.
"Mr Nambiar was a treasure trove of information on European history, governance, security and power play of European nations from the 1920s to the 1980s. This helped me in learning more about the turbulent history of that region," Balachandran tells Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com in a revealing interview about a lesser known Indian.

http://www.rediff.com/news/interview/a-remarkable-indian-you-never-heard-of/20170308.htm

 

[prasad1]

One of the things that stand out in your book that both Nehru and Bose -- who Indians are repeatedly told were antagonistic to each other -- respected ACN immensely.
Two questions arise: One, was the so-called animosity between them, fiction?
Two, what does this tell about ACN?
I have already made this clear in my book. Both were friends.
Bose was the first person to receive the ailing Kamala Nehru on her arrival in Vienna in May 1935. Nehru was in prison.
I have written: 'As Nambiar saw it, Nehru and Bose differed not on the aim of independence but on the modalities. Nehru, although doubting certain assumptions and conclusions of Bose, never doubted his patriotism nor harboured any hatred.'
'Bose on his part recognised Nehru's importance and influence in India's struggle although he felt that Nehru's pro-British attitude could be a problem.' (Pages 261-62).
No doubt Bose felt unhappy that Nehru sided with Gandhiji when he had differences with him.
One of the first acts of Nehru on becoming prime minister was to enquire through Nambiar about Emilie Schenkel (Netaji's wife) and to arrange to send help to her.

Also, Anita Bose (Bose's daughter) stayed with Nehru during her visit to Delhi in 1960 (pages 167-169).
In my 'Notes' (pages 287-88) I refuted the recent allegation that Nehru had 'snooped' on Bose and his family.http://www.rediff.com/news/interview/a-remarkable-indian-you-never-heard-of/20170308.htm