The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

      

NEW YORK, Friday—Wednesday afternoon I took a train to Saybrook, Connecticut, to spend the night with my friend, Miss Esther Lape, and was somewhat surprised and most interested to learn that there are some people who still remember the TV programs that I did last year. One of the young railroad conductors came through and stopped to say that he and his wife had watched every Sunday afternoon and that they still miss the program very much. One can't help but be pleased to know that something one has done has been really enjoyed, and I felt a glow of pleasure.

Coming back on the train Thursday morning I was delighted to find Mrs. Chester Bowles on the same train. We had a little chat and I found we were going to meet again at lunch before her scheduled departure with Ambassador Bowles on the return trip to India.

Her husband had many official duties to take care of during the short time they have had in the United States, but she settled down in their home in Essex, Connecticut, with the children. She said she felt rested and refreshed and prepared to return to the heat of India.

The Bowleses will, however, break their journey and spend three days in Lebanon so that Ambassador Bowles can have a rest. It will be warm in Lebanon, but they could go to the mountains there, where it is always pleasant. I think I wrote when I was there that I felt Lebanon might easily become the Switzerland of the Near East. It is a little country but endowed with a great variety of scenery and it is easy in a short space of time to have fishing and sailing by the seashore and the refreshing air and sports of a mountain resort.

They will find heat when they get back to India but the rains will have come, too, and these help to cool the atmosphere considerably.

The India League gave a luncheon for Ambassador and Mrs. Bowles, at which Mr. J.J. Singh recalled that less than a year ago, when they gave a farewell reception for the Ambassador, he had predicted success for Mr. Bowles' work in India. This certainly has come to pass.

Mr. Singh recalled also the words of Senator Taft, who had opposed the nomination of Mr. Bowles. He said that in all probability Senator Taft, who had met the Ambassador when he held positions where diplomacy was not required, had failed to realize that as Ambassador to India, a man with ability could succeed if he had sincerity and understanding. These are two qualities that Mr. Bowles possesses and which are essential to success in building close relationships with India.

Ambassador Bowles said much in his speech that I hope the newspapers have published far and wide because it will help our people as a whole to a greater understanding of India and the problems facing us there today.

I was delighted to find myself sitting by Dr. Palair of Indonesia and to have an opportunity to talk a little to him about my short stay in his country. His is a fascinating country with great potentialities and one which I hope someday we shall know more about.

I always feel that my conversations are all too short with my neighbors at these functions and I wish I had a chance for more enlightenment.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 21, 1952

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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