M.O. Mathai aka 'Mac' was assistant to India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Mathai worked with the United States Army in India before becoming an assistant to Nehru in 1946. He was a Madras University graduate working in Assam when he wrote to Nehru soon after Nehru's release from prison in 1945, offering his services. Subsequently, Nehru met him in Assam and after some leisurely talks in Nehru's hometown of Allahabad, Nehru asked Mathai to join him as a secretary.