Kaul had been Vajpayee's constant companion of many years and the mother of his adopted daughter Namita Bhattacharya
'This is what Hindu Rashtra looks like, which has been enabled by conditions of democracy.'
Rajkumari Kaul's death over the weekend brings back memories of phone conversations at a time when landline numbers were still in vogue, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was still to become prime minister, remembers Girish Nikam.