Monday, November 18, 2019

Gods too have feet of clay....



1926:  Rabindranath Tagore meets Benito Mussolini and was so captivated by Mussolini’s colourful personality and vigour that he said, ‘His Excellence Mussolini seems modeled body and soul by the Chisel of Michelangelo…’ He also praised Mussolini as ‘the most slandered man in the world’.
1931: Mahatma Gandhi meets Mussolini. According to Gandhi, ‘Mussolini is an enigma to me. Many of his reforms he has made attract me. He seems to have done a great deal for the peasantry… what strikes me is that behind Mussolini’s ruthlessness is the motive of serving people. Even behind his bombastic speeches there is a ring of sincerity and love of his people. It seems to me that the bulk of the Italians like Mussolini’s iron rule…”
1936: Pandit Nehru was in Rome and Mussolini sent his chief of protocol to the airport, inviting Nehru to meet him. Jawaharlal Nehru and the chief of protocol argued for an hour. A telephone message was sent to the Duce’s palace that Nehru could not come.