The cultural affinity shared between India and Sri Lanka is a bond which cannot be fathomed from the normal measure of geopolitics. It echoes the deepest spiritual heritages derived from Buddhism and continues regardless of the differences and discontents the two states faced occasionally. India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru always had a soft spot for Sri Lanka as a culturally knitted island for the Indic civilization. 

For some Sri Lankans, especially for the first generation of Anglophone Ceylonese politicians, Nehru was an arrogant statesman striving to expand India’s gaze towards the neighbouring countries.  This was quite a logical concern when D S Senanayake pushed the British to form a defence pact prior to granting dominion status to Ceylon. But, Nehru never had the ambition of annexing Ceylon despite his disdain for the class of leaders who took over the political power of Ceylon from the British.

An extraordinary Sri Lankan

It might be an interesting factor to disclose that he adored one particular Sri Lankan more than any other known Sri Lankan politician. Nehru did not have time to pamper Maha Mudaliyar’s son, SWRD Bandaranaike when he requested a private audience from Nehru in 1928. Ironically the Ceylonese who was revered and adored by Nehru was a commoner without any link to the higher echelons of Ceylonese politics. He ended up with a decorated life filled with different tantrums as a Buddhist monk who renounced all worldly things.  

Narcissus Anthony Fernando was an extraordinary individual. Originally groomed to be ordained in the Jesuit order, he was sent to India as a missionary. However, for reasons that remain inexplicable, he chose to live as an ordinary man, mingling with the cosmopolitan gatherings in Bombay, Calcutta, and other Indian cities. Eventually, Narcissus grew weary of his flamboyant lifestyle and converted to Buddhism. At the same time, he became inspired by the movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. He traveled to Poona, where he became a devoted disciple of Gandhi under the guidance of nature cure physician Dr. Dinshaw Mehta. Together with a small group that included Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Rajkumari Amrit, and G.V. Mavlankar—who later became the first Speaker of parliament in independent India—Narcissus traveled across the subcontinent to support Gandhi’s movement.

Gandhi’s personal envoy

When a delegation from Sri Lanka that included political giants like JR Jayewardene and Dudley Senanayake was not given time to meet Gandhi due to his busy schedule, Narcissus simply appealed to Gandhi saying “Babuji, a delegation from my country has come from all the way to meet you and you don’t have time for them?". Gandhi was shocked and met the delegation from Ceylon, proving the extraordinary influence that Narcissus Fernando had on Gandhi. 

In 1945 when an Indian film company wanted to make a film on the life of Buddha, Narcissus was responsible for the moving of a strongly worded resolution at a largely represented meeting in Mumbai that put an end to the project. The resolution had the fullest support of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1945 Gandhi sent Narcissus Fernando as his personal envoy to represent him and preside over the prize giving at the Mahatma Gandhi College in Kandy.  

His acquaintance with Nehru ran parallel to his involvement in Gandhi’s movement. HIs austerity and detachment were fine principles that buttressed Narcissus' journey in India and Nehru truly admired his altruism. Even after becoming the prime minister of the largest democracy in the world, Nehru had time to hear Narcissus, who had by then changed his name to Ananda Meemanage.

From Ananda Meemanage he became Ven. Ananda Mangala, when he donned the yellow robes of a Buddhist monk at the age of 40. Nehru sent him on a private mission to Missamari and Buxaduar to keep track of the fleeing Tibetan refugees. His mission was akin to espionage as the Chinese military buildup was already on and Nehru wanted to have a realistic picture of the border situation. Between 1958 and 1961 he submitted personal reports to Nehru on the situation in India's northeastern frontier. The way how  Nehru indulged him was somewhat uncanny as he always entertained Ven. Amanda Mangala regardless of the busy schedule.

One of Nehru's favorites

Being an admirer of simplicity, Nehru perhaps found in him a simple soul, an emotional man who sat at the feet of Gandhi, a son of Sri Lanka who was struggling to find his own place in the Buddhist world.  The way Nehru found time for Ven. Ananda Managala astounded the Indian media as sometimes  Nehru even went beyond the limits of the bureaucratic rules. Once Ven. Ananada Mangala wanted to bring a tape recorder from Burma to India, but Indian customs control rules hindered his plan. Ven. Mangala was not willing to lose hope and knew the prime minister would always stand by his side. His letter to Nehru received a prompt reply with the instruction for him to land in Madras. When he landed in Madras, as expected the customs pounced on him and he produced the letter he received from Nehru. It was then found that Nehru had along with the letter sent a cheque from his personal account for Rs. 150 to cover the customs duty and Ven. Ananda Mangala left the airport as a VIP.

On another occasion, Ven. Ananda Mangala expressed his interest in becoming a citizen of India and Nehru duly arranged it for him in Colombo by requesting the Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Y.D Gundevia, to issue an Indian passport to him. This was the spirit of the camaraderie that both Nehru and Ven. Ananda Mangala maintained. 

In his memoirs Ven. Mangala recalls his last meeting with Nehru in January 1963.  Nehru was seated on a chair in the garden of the prime minister’s residence, Teen Murti Bhavan, in New Delhi. When Ven. Mangala went closer to Nehru, he was visibly shaken after seeing the pale face of the prime minister. Nehru got up slowly and made him sit and said, “You are a Buddhist savant and should not give in to such emotions”. In his memoirs, Ven. Mangala states “When I left, I knew I had seen him for the last time”. Nehru passed away on May 27, 1963. 

(The author is a post-doctoral researcher affiliated with the Institute of Law, Politics and Development at Scuola Superiore Sant Anna, Pisa, Italy. Views expressed are personal. He can be reached at punsaraprint10@gmail.com )