Bibliofile

Another former president comes out in worse light in Bhatia’s new book. V.V. Giri was well-known for inconveniencing his hosts because of his orthodox eating habits. On a state visit to Singapore, for example, a temporary kitchen had to be set up at the Hilton for him and his family. The president carried his private cook in his large official entourage, but even then refused to have his food prepared in the hotel kitchen. "No other Indian head of state has been as orthodox in his eating habits as Giri was, nor has any other president of our country been as fussy about his status or as tactless in his dealings with hosts and guests alike," writes Bhatia.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan may have been better known by the nation for his writings on philosophy than his politics, but Indian philosophers of his time had no high opinion of his learning. Well-known philosopher J.N. Mohanty’s recently released autobiography, Between Two Worlds: East and West (OUP), contains several uncomplimentary references to the best-known writer on Indian philosophy in modern times. For instance, when Radhakrishnan was teaching at Calcutta University, he made the mistake of asking a junior colleague what he thought of him. The reply was candid: "Professor, you are a first-rate speaker, a second-rate politician and a third-rate philosopher." To the philosopher-president’s credit, he did not let his colleague’s outspokenness come in the way of recommending him for a promotion.