Visit of Prime Minister Morarji Desai

In the early part of 1979, Prime Minister Morarji Desai of India visited Sri Lanka, and we as Secretaries were invited by President Jayewardene, to the reception he was hosting in his honour at Kings Pavilion in Kandy.

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Some Secretaries, I was later told, reflecting on a visit to Kandy and back, just for the sake of a two hour reception had politely inquired from Mr. Menikdiwela, Secretary to the President, whether it was absolutely necessary for them to attend, to which the laconic reply had been, "If you wish to continue as Secretaries, yes." I did not ask the question, because of my previous experience in the Prime Minister's office and the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Affairs. The acceptance of an invitation by the head of state is mandatory unless one is seriously ill, or abroad. All of us therefore attended the reception in the cool of the evening on the well-manicured and spacious lawns of Kings Pavilion. The President enjoyed excellent relations with the Indian Prime Minister. Both were elderly persons, who had known each other for a long period. Both were Finance Ministers of their countries, and had met each other and developed a firm friendship over the course of many official meetings. The rapport between the two would have been close to the excellent relations between Mrs. Gandhi and Mrs. Bandaranaike.

Sometimes, for some unknown reason; the mind registers and remembers some inconsequential point. Accordingly, what I remember to this day is the iron grip of the Indian Prime Minister, then in his eighties, when I shook hands with him. The Prime Minister, who was a vegetarian, was reputed to drink a glass of his own urine first thing in the morning. If the strength of his grip was anything to go by, there seemed much to recommend in both practices.