Holbrooke and Krishna Menon

Americans never liked the fiery V K Krishna Menon because of his anti-imperialist radicalism but most merely despised him. Only one man confessed to being scared of him — the late Richard Holbrooke, a celebrated US diplomat who died recently. Holbrooke was a young boy and first caught a glimpse of Krishna Menon when the tall, dark and handsome gent visited Holbrooke’s father, a doctor in New York, for medical treatment. “I had never seen a man with so much hair coming out of his ears!” recalled Holbrooke once, “and I used to be scared of Mr Menon whenever he came home!”