This book highlights the intellectual and diplomatic distinction of K. Natwar Singh. From a very young age he came into intimate contact with world-renowned personalities. As he working on this book,the thought struck me that the Natwar Singh of these letters was obviously someone that had been transmuted out of the indubitably common metal that he is, into a superior product by the alchemy of the minds of indulgent and warmhearted well-wishers. Indira Gandhi, R.K.Narayan, Han Suyin, E.M. Forster, Nargis Dutt et al figure in the list of these distinguished well-wishers. These letters tell us as much about the writers as they reflect on the engaging personality of the recipient.
K. Natwar Singh is an Indian politician and former cabinet minister. He was born on 16 May, 1931, and educated at Mayo College, Ajmer; Scindia School, Gwalior; St. Stephen’s College, Delhi; and Corpus Christie College, Cambridge. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1953 and has served in Beijing, New York, Warsaw, London and Lusaka. He received the Padma Bhushan in 1984. He is married to Heminder Kumari of Patiala, and their son, Jagat Singh, following in the footsteps of his father, has also entered politics.