Book Review

     The title of Alan Nazareth’s book intimates that, as a member of India’s Foreign Service, he has had a ringside seat to history. In fact, Ambassador Nazareth’s active and fruitful diplomatic career has helped shape history, and will inspire others to forge meaningful life stories of their own. While many reviews of this book have focused on Ambassador Nazareth’s exploits on the world stage, his personal life and milieu are also worth noting.

      Born in Mangalore into a distinguished Catholic family on 7 April 1936, Alan Nazareth had both the advantages of a well-placed family and the accompanying pressure to live a life of excellence. For example, at ten years old, when Sir Archibald Nye, then Governor of Madras, laid a foundation stone at a local college, young Alan was chosen to present the welcome bouquet to Lady Nye. The subsequent luncheon in their honour took place at Alan’s grand-uncle’s residence.

      At 22, when preparing for the Indian Administrative Service/Indian Foreign Service (IAS/IFS) exams, intense focus was required. Nazareth studied 8-10 hours every day for months in a “cozy study”, which was a converted bathroom of the family’s recently purchased home in Bangalore “stripped of its sanitary fittings, furnished with wall-mounted bookshelves, a small table and chair and a low hanging light.” Breaks were taken for lunch, dinner and church on Sundays.

      While studies and a future in the IAS or IFS must have stood first in Alan Nazareth’s thoughts, a future life partner would have occupied them as well. Alan Nazareth was first introduced to “an elegant and attractive young lady” (his future wife Isobel Colaco) by her grandmother Rose during a family wedding reception. What luck! However, after the introduction, Isobel remarked, “Grandma, he is too young for me.” When the couple decided to wed, Alan’s father insisted the wedding be postponed so that his son not be distracted by a new wife while on his first posting to Japan. Isobel waited two year’s until Alan’s return, and the resulting three lovely children included future international civil servant Premila Nazareth Satyanand.

      For Alan to enter the Foreign or Administrative Service, not only did he need to pass the written exams (which he did with flying colours), but the Personality Interview. To Alan’s surprise, since he felt that he had correctly and diplomatically presented all sides as answers to questions presented to him, he did not secure high marks on the Interview at his first attempt and was not chosen for a Service. A year later, right before his second try at the Interview, Alan found himself seated close to a scholarly-looking man at breakfast, and learned that he was an IFS officer who had placed first in the exam a few years earlier. Seeking his counsel, the gentleman advised that “This interview is not a general knowledge test but an assessment of the candidate’s mental maturity and the manner in which he formulates, presents and defends his opinions….You must quickly formulate an opinion, give it confidently and then defend it as best you can.”

      Having adopted this new strategy (proposed to him only hours before his Interview), Alan succeeded at both the written tests and oral interview near the top of the list. However, the path to IFS was still not clear. On the home front, Alan needed to convince his parents, who wanted him to enter the Administrative Service, that the Foreign Service was not all “cocktail parties and golf”. While still not getting full parental approval to join the IFS, when Nazareth heard that the new crop of IFS officers would personally meet with Jawaharlal Nehru, Nazareth signed his IFS acceptance form.

      Nehru’s instructions to the new IFS officers: “My young officers, you will often be told that diplomacy is all about going abroad to lie on the behalf of your country. I want to assure you that India does not expect you to lie on its behalf. Never tell a lie but always remember you have no obligation to reveal the truth. The less said the better; the best is to listen.”

      A Ringside Seat to History provides humorous (and all-too-relatable) incidents of bureaucratic tempests-in-a teapot over re-routed airline tickets (at no additional cost) and reprimands over using a less-costly telex to telegram form of communication (eventually adopted Service wide), to harrowing tales of hunkering down on the floor while bullets fly during a coup. It tells of the daring do, ingenuity and creativity required in political and economic spheres, and also in sharing one’s country’s great cultural wealth. A Ringside Seat to History provides candid opinions on various foreign influences over military coups, assassinations and economic downturns (read the book to find out more). It also gives insight into the all-but-official role of diplomatic spouse, such as Mrs. Nazareth’s bravery in protecting and accompanying the wife of a fellow-countryman questioned by military police after a coup, or in organizing relief fundraising with the First Lady of Peru after the devastating earthquake there. (We look forward, with hope, to someday seeing Mrs. Nazareth’s memoires).

      Ambassador Nazareth’s 35 year career in the Indian Foreign Service took him to postings in Tokyo, Rangoon, Lima, London, Chicago and New York. He was India’s High Commissioner to Ghana, and Ambassador to Egypt, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Liberia, Upper Volta, and Togo. Post-retirement, he has lectured widely, especially on Gandhian values.
His many honours include the U Thant Peace Award, presented by Sri Chinmoy in 2007.

      A Ringside Seat to History has been translated into 35 languages. It is an informative and inspiring volume for members of the United Nations community, and all those interested in leading a life of integrity.