What is it like to host an ex-president? An excerpt from Never Out of Print

Rupa chairman Rajen Mehra writes, in his book, about the delicious drama of the day R Venkataraman visited his home, in 1994.

The evening was a grand success and My Presidential Years hit the bestseller lists and was a mainstay on our list for years afterwards. It would also be the precursor to other books we would publish by presidents and vice presidents. The evening after the launch, I invited the former president at my Model Town home for dinner, which he graciously accepted. We were delighted, unaware of the maze of protocols that awaited us. When I returned home from the launch, I was stopped by uniformed security personnel. Our home in Model Town had been turned into a fortress, bristling with men with guns. All I could do was persuade them to let me in, as I lived there and I was the host!

As the hour of the former president’s arrival approached, I could see curious neighbours peeping from their windows and terraces to catch a glimpse of the VIP in their gully. I was relishing every moment of it. He arrived punctually at 7.30 p.m. We were all gathered in the drawing room when he expressed his desire to catch the 8.00 p.m. news on Doordarshan to watch the coverage of his book launch. This was a very ordinary request except that there was one problem. We had no TV in our drawing room. There was one TV in the house, and it was in our bedroom. Naturally, the former president could not be asked to watch TV in our bedroom, so the TV would have to be brought to him. Huffing and puffing, I dragged the instrument to the living room and we were all able to watch the news on Doordarshan. The public broadcaster had given the launch substantial coverage. This was because his political opponents had set up a protest meeting outside the FICCI Hall, where the book had been launched.

Food was ready and as is the practice in some households, it is always first served to the gods in our puja ghar. But here, the custom deviated from the divine to the canine! Before reaching the former president’s plate, his men served the food to the dogs they had with them for security reasons. The canine survived and then the guest of honour could take his first morsel. The evening went off well, to my satisfaction. I was delighted that I’d been able to host the former president at my modest house. The next day, I received a bouquet and a letter written by Venkataraman thanking me and my wife for the wonderful evening.

(Excerpted with permission from Never Out of Print by Rajen Mehra, published by Rupa; January 2024)