While the six-day war  was being fought between Israel and Egypt, I was posted to Poland, my first experience of a Communist country. Everything was different there. Social relations with Poles were blocked as they were controlled by the regime. Any meeting for a Pole with a foreigner aroused suspicion. The whole population was trapped within the country, as foreign travel was not possible. The frontier posts were closely guarded and none could cross them without strict permission. International trains were closely searched at the frontier, even with dogs to scent out hiding refugees in case there were any. There were few petrol stations on the highways, food was by no means in plenty and much desired foreign goods were not available and, when imported, they were snapped up by privileged members of the Communist Party. The Soviet Union, though in the background, had a dominant say in important matters but the people, from what I could see, intensely disliked their Soviet neighbour. As part of the Soviet bloc , though, Poland was caught up in the on-going Cold War.

Polish people, however, were on the whole extremely religious. Despite the politics of their government, many were devout Catholics. Karol Wojtila, who was Archbishop of Krakow and whom I visited, later became Pope John Paul II.

President Giri and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Poland in my time. During the few days of her visit, I moved closely with the Prime Minister and found her to be a charming and friendly person. I could not imagine her to declare an Emergency in India, as she later did.

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