I haven't any close friends. Friendship needs time to interact, sit down, gossip. I don't have that time.

I did subscribe to the freedom movement and I was much closer to the Congress than to the Akali party. It is a communal party.

I still think that the point of reference for every Indian when he is in doubt on any political or social issue is to say, "What would [Mahatma] Gandhi have done under the circumstances?" I didn't subscribe to his fads - prohibition, celibacy, no doctors - but generally he was always right. He meant more to me than any of my gurus.

I haven't any close friends. Friendship needs time to interact, sit down, gossip. I don't have that time.

I acquired long-lived parents. My mother died at 94. Father died at 90, holding a glass of whisky. I think that's the secret of longevity - to have long-lived parents. The rest is discipline.

Nature provides that a man who slaves all day should spend the hours of the night in a palace full of houris whereas a king who wields the sceptre by day should have his sleep disturbed by nightmares of rebellion and assassination.

I was unhappy with the jobs I did after law. I got into the diplomatic service. There again I had really little to do.