"I often traveled with him in his aircraft during his foreign tours and en route we used to discuss various political and geographical aspects of those countries.


"He loved to eat, particularly, the sea food. I remember during our visit to the Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in 2001, we were served with exotic Vietnamese cuisine at a banquet hosted in his honour, that had a huge variety of sea food.


"I was sitting at a little distance from Vajpayeeji, who was on a high table with Vietanamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.We were served a huge lobster.


"While I struggled to eat that, I saw Vajpayeeji happily enjoying his meal, and the lobster. He tried everything on the table and continued eating till the last, even though his host Vietnamese PM had finished eating much before him.It was generally believed that way to Vajpayeeji's heart was through his stomach.


"So, whenever any of the Indian ambassadors wanted to get into his good books, they would fly best chefs to cook for him. It happened in Malaysia in 2001, I remember.Vajpayeeji was also a nature lover. At a cliff in Bali (Indonesia), where he had gone to attend the ASEAN Summit in 2003, Vajpayee stood silently for a long time watching the water of Indian and Pacific Ocean splashing the hills down. He then turned towards me and said, "Look Premji, how the two oceans meet!" And then we watched the scenic beauty together for a while from that hill top.


Coming to the administrator's side of Vajpayeeji, I must say, he was a tough negotiator, and had the nerve to beat Pakistan's then President Pervez Musharraf in the game of brinkmanship. Islamabad has always tried to outplay India on the issue of Kashmir. But with Vajpayeeji, it was clear to them that there was no chance.


In Agra in 2001, when Musharraf tried playing this brinkmanship card with Vajpayeeji, I was praying and hoping that India does not surrender to the pressure.


And, I felt very good when Vajpayeeji gave a terse reply to Musharraf and made him go back empty-handed. Musharraf packed his bag, cancelled his pilgrimage to Ajmer Sharif Dargah and left India. That was the power of this man. -- Prem Kishan/ANI