INDIA: Irritating Admiration

Nothing irritates India's fastidious Prime Minister Nehru more than the tasteless and insistent hero worship heaped upon him by the Indian masses. Admirers who bend to touch his sandaled feet are often rewarded with a gentle kick; officials who prepare fancy receptions may find themselves denounced as "wasters of the people's time and money." Last week in the modest farming town of Hubli, in southwestern India, Nehru sat contentedly on a bamboo-railed platform, swatting flies while the chairman introduced him to the crowd of 2,000. Glowingly, the speaker described the guest of honor as "a man of great heart...

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