'A Grandfather's Tale: Memoirs being mainly concerned with service in the Indian Army and the Indian Political Service in India and the Persian Gulf from 1932-1947' [‎19r] (37/118)

for the Kadir Cup, to be held near Meerut at the end of March 1939
Unfortunately only ten days before the competition was due to stert T
was transferred at 48 hours' notice from Agra to Saikot in tb» ? ’ l
of India and so had to withdraw. Incidental! v i t " J ‘ ar west
the rider which was the entrant but Ii :her e r:a 1 s ly no 1 t t i:rtrf in h r:: y r
I hav7seen C n; rtcorraftej ^ 3°8 andV^ver^l t0 ^ PlaCS -
However, as a small consolation before we left Agra“ Fri^rand “worths
point to point, though I do not think the coursed v^T^rdous "
nv, 4 . Whl1 ® I , WaS in Agra 1 mana sed to see a little of the States of
t^et P an’f °™ and JaipUr bUt t0 m7 lastin S re S r ®t I was never able
the middle S a'l ke 1 P ^b W there 13 fam ° U15 Palaoe on an island “
the middle of a lake, xhere were marvellous buildings in all those States
coul^rival Tt ^ ^ d —tep, an! in my opini^ nothing
could rival it, and I never tired of visiting it, whether in the early
morning, y ay or by night, and as Assistant Commissioner Agra, I regarded
myself as its honorary Chowkidar (caretaker/watchman). garded
Prn . S “V 1 !? 6 U r ing SUmmer ° f 1938 Francis Mudie was transferred to
incial Headquarters at Lucknow to take over the post of Revenue Secretary
an a year laterhe was made Chief Secretary. In 19^3 he became Governor of
iqS r 47 r r VlnCe ’ S member ° f the Vicer °y , s Executive Council and in
1946-4? Governor of Sind, and it was in 1946 in Karachi that I next met him,
when I was en route for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . After partition in 194?-49 he
was Governor of West Punjab, in what was then the Dominion of Pakistan. He
was a great man, not in the least pompous, and I shall always be grateful for
n*.!.* 111 ? and thorou gh w ay in which he taught me the very essence of a District
uiiicer's job.
He was succeeded by a senior Muslim member of the Indian Civil Service
W o° Se . name ’ 1 think i was Akhtiar Hussain. He was a nice man, quietly
efficient, and we got on very well together. Despite what may be gathered
from smeh films as "Gandhi" and "The Jewel in the Crown" relations between
he British and Indians of all classes and religions were generally very
good, and I can remember no racial undertones in my own dealings with
Indians, whether I was serving under, over or alongside them. Some one
liked better than others but exactly the same criteria applied to their
ritish counterparts. Hubert Evans and Francis Mudie were examples of the
very best type of Indian Civil Service officer, while the Commissioner in
Agra, one D. struck me as being one of the worst - pompous, conceited and
ineffective. Luckily, as a junior officer I had very little to do with him.
D. however, did me one favour for which I can never be sufficiently
grateful. He and his wife Sadie, a plump American lady, gave a cocktail
party for the younger members of the British community in Agra in early
December 193 g and therefor the first time I met Jane Douglas Hamilton,
e became engaged two months later and were eventually married in Nainital
on the J7th June 1939 and have remained happily in that state ever since.