T.S. SATYAN writes: Those who had known him will feel particularly sad at the death of John Kenneth Galbraith.
I attended a party in the American Embassy in New Delhi soon after he took over as US Ambassador. I kept staring at him and was amazed at his height that was six feet eight inches making even six-footers look Lilliputian.
"How is this man going to manage if he were to travel overnight in a long distance train?" I hissed into the ear of the Newsweek correspondent standing by my side.
"He sure will travel in supreme comfort not for one day but for a whole week" he answered.
Sometime later, India-loving Galbraith accompanied by friends and a group of media persons went on a week-long train journey across some parts of India in a special train he had commissioned.
He had particularly requested the Minister for Railways to consider his height while readying his air-conditioned compartment.
Galbraith was delighted when he boarded an overnight train and found that his sleeper berth was eight feet long, wider and well-cushioned.
JKG, apart from being a towering Economist, was literally a towering figure at 6′ 8″. People who would attend Parties used to tell their Girlfriends/ wives as where they could be located at a milling crowd with this: ‘I’ll be around the Tower! You can’t miss me!’