Tallat Azim It is December and another eventful year draws to a close. Technological advancements that man has made have drastically altered the way wars are fought, power games played and diplomacy practiced over the years. One fact remains unchanged though. Democratic leanings notwithstanding, decisions made by a few who wield power continue, to this day, impact millions of lives. The mentioned millions, despite claims to the contrary, have no real influence on the way their destinies are shaped. It is all about who was able to influence whom for whatever reasons. The people surrounding the power wielders everywhere in history have been responsible for so many actions. A fascinating, well-researched book written by Shrabani Basu, Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queens Closest Confidante, recounts the last 10 years of Queen Victoria and her relationship with her Indian Secretary Munshi Abdul Karim. At a time when English society was synonymous with a stiff upper lip and stringent morality, the British empress was so fond of Abdul that she wanted to make him a knight but she had to back down bowing to pressure by order commander of the Indian Empire, writes the author. Abdul Karim had been a gift from India to the queen to celebrate her golden jubilee in 1887. He was only 24 at that time and a handsome young man. He arrived from his hometown of Agra, as a waiter on the royal table, but rose through the ranks to become the queens personal confidante, munshi and then the decorated Indian Secretary. The author of the book says: While delving into historical research I realised how important he was and how close Queen Victoria felt to India, and how her views on India were influenced by him. He taught her how to speak Urdu, while he became quickly proficient in the English language himself. The queens famed love for curries was also because of him. He also told her all about the customs and festivals of India. It was because of his influence that the queen asked the Viceroy to be compassionate with the Indians. He spent almost all his time with the queen and despite the opposition of the household, her children, as well as the hawk-eyed surveillance that was kept on his movements, by both in India and Britain, he remained in their midst and her companion till the end of her days. The queen wrote letters to Abdul Karim every single day. The royal household was deeply suspicious of his influence over the queen, but Victoria did not care. Most of the letters were destroyed after her death on King Edwards command, who was deeply ashamed of his mothers relationship with Abdul Karim. The queen asked the viceroy to allocate land for Abdul Karim in India, which would be enough for him to live off for his life. She also handed him cottages in Windsor, Balmoral and Osborne, and insisted that he had his own private carriage and his own billiards room. Another relationship that influenced the destinies of the Indian subcontinent, 60 odd years later, was the one between Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias first Prime Minister and Lady Edwina Mountbatten, wife of Lord Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy to India, who also over saw partition. Edwinas reported affection for Nehru, as her daughter recalls, was the reason of her fathers decision to invite Indians to every cocktail party hosted by him in India, which was disapproved greatly by the conservative and elitist 1940s society of Britain. The reported love affair between Edwina and Nehru blossomed during a 1947 trip to Mashobra, a hill station, as part of a party of family and friends. Nehru wrote a letter to Edwina a decade later, in which he described that trip to Mashobra as the defining moment in their relationship - a moment when he realised, and perhaps she did too that there was a deeper attachment between us, that some uncontrollable force, of which I am dimly aware, drew us to one another. The attachment between them lasted until her death in 1960, and a packet of letters from Nehru, which she read every day, was found at her bedside. With the advancement of media in the modern world and its ability to hound out news as and when it happens, the affair between Princess Diana and Dr Hasnat Khan in the last decade of the previous century could not meet a similar, peaceful end. Diana fell in love with 'the one, as she called him in the fall of 1995. She met him at the Royal Brompton Hospital where she had gone to visit a patient. Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub was in attendance and the doctor - a young Omar Sharif figure in a white coat - arrived with his assistants when Diana was at the patients bedside. The attraction was immediate for her. In no time, her Kensington Palace apartment was fragrant with the scent of burning joss sticks. The Princess became a student of cardiology; her night table groaned under a fat copy of Grays Anatomy and piles of surgical reports. She watched Casualty, a hospital soap opera, every Saturday night. Her closet filled up with colourful shalwar kameezez worn by Pakistani women. She even considered converting to Islam, as an article in Vanity Fair reported. Her relationship with the doctor was the most fulfilling she had ever had, according to her biographer Sally Bedell Smith. He, on the other hand, had a dread of personal publicity. He was not interested in high life or fashionability. In the ultimate analysis, it was the media glare, which caused this relationship to end. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: tallatazim@yahoo.com