New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- It was a pleasant September morning in 1982. Returning home in Allahabad I noticed a posse of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and local police standing guard in the nearby neighbourhood of George Town. I inquired about the reason for their sudden deployment. I received a counter-question: "Don't you know? The Prime Minister is coming."

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visiting Allahabad, unannounced? What was the purpose? Pondering over the possibilities I stood there. Across the road was the bungalow of Mrs S.S. Nehru, wife of Dr. Shridhar Shridhara Nehru, a prominent Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer who was Jawaharlal Nehru's cousin and independent India's first High Commissioner to Britain. Given the close kins...