Apa Pant the Ambassador comes up. Love how candid he is, in his memoir –
Panditji however could charm anyone, any time, with hardly any effort. He was then at the height of his power.
When Raosaheb asked him if he had forgotten me, he said, “No, I was just thinking of him just the other day.” Then turning to me he said, “Apa, go to East Africa as our first ambassador there.”
Ambassador? I was to be an Ambassador? I should have shouted for joy, but didn’t feel like it then. My ego would take a while to assert itself again.
I asked, “What do I do there as an ambassador, sir?” Mischievously Panditji said, “Oh, nothing much! Giver dinners, and perhaps shoot a few lions (With a camera, of course).” So I sailed alone by the S.S.Khandala, the oldest ship of the P & O line. Baba and the rest of the family were there to bid me farewell. Was Baba proud that I, his second son was now an ambassador of free India?
Was I happy and proud? Hardly, I was disgusted with myself. I did not like leaving Baba all alone.
As I boarded the ship, I wept.
Contested Realities 