'You broke the boundary of what it meant to be an Indian woman and the wife of a diplomat. 'You did not serve tea or sit idly by as men spoke about business matters -- a trope I have seen much too often in Indian and Indian-American households. 'You followed your dreams.'
Ambassador T P Sreenivasan bids adieu to an unusual human being who passed away into ages on Saturday.
'Taranjit has the ideal temperament to deal with the Americans who understand firmness and appreciate flexibility.' 'He can hold his ground with a cheerful face and still make it clear that India and the US are partners, rivals,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Success comes only to those who dare and act,' says proud father Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'He was nominated for the Nobel Prize 9 times and several scientists wrote to the academy pointing out the injustice.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan remembers E C G Sudarshan, the legendary physicist who passed into the ages on Monday, May 14.
T P Sreenivasan was India's high commissioner in Fiji in 1987, when Sitiveni Rabuka toppled the Indian-dominated government there. Ambassador Sreenivasan stayed on for two years after the coup, fighting for the rights of the people of Indian origin before he was expelled by Rabuka. 'Meeting Sitiveni Rabuka, who had overthrown a democratically elected government, discriminated against the Fiji Indians, brought untold humiliation and suffering to them, tried to disenfranchise them, ordered me out of Fiji and closed down the Indian high commission was a difficult decision to take even after 25 years,' notes Ambassador Sreenivasan who eventually caught up with Rabuka over a game of golf.
To be at Kakkathuruthu when the sun sets, according to National Geographic, is a surreal experience. Ambassador T P Sreenivasan tells us how the tiny island gradually charmed him.