M M KAYE honoured with the

JAMES TOD International Award

Rekindled - India's Romance With The Raj
24 March 2003, Financial Express

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Given by Nicola Hamilton on behalf of her mother, M M Kaye
on Sunday 9th March 2003, City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

"Your Highness, Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen...

To begin with, may I apologise to anyone who may be disappointed that my mother, M.M. Kaye is not here to receive this prestigious award in person.  I can assure you it was not for want of trying!  She has a great love of India and affection for its people – This land she still calls home!  She was so anxious to make the journey here herself and sadly I had to tell her – “not at 94, mother- you’re not going anywhere at 94!”

She took it with good grace and asked me to accept this award on her behalf and to have me convey to you her thanks and awareness of what a great honour it is to have been chosen for the Colonel James Tod Award from the Maharana Mewar Foundation and to tell you that at her great age she considers it to be “the cherry on the cake” of her long and exciting life.

She is also so pleased to feel that her literary work, namely Shadow of the Moon, The Far Pavilions and indeed her autobiographies of her life in this country and other works have perhaps inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of people to travel to India and see for themselves what a magical, beautiful, diverse and enchanting country this is, particularly Rajasthan where it was she based her book The Far Pavilions and which I feel was her ‘love-letter to India’ and which coincidentally celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, almost to the day.

She also sends, through me, her thanks and appreciation to the Mewar Foundation for selecting her to be honoured in this way and to be in the company of such elevated recipients of this Award and that she will hold it very dear to her heart. 

I will try and bring to life this missed and thrilling experience through pictures and memories of this great occasion for her on my return.

I would also like to give my personal thanks to Shriji and the Foundation for his invitation and hospitality at this wonderful Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel which my mother would have so enjoyed.    Instead she sends you this poem from her heart by way of farewell:

This is the land of lost content
I see her shining plain
These happy highways where I went
I cannot come again

Once again, thank you for honouring M M Kaye in this way.  I am very proud of her.

Thank you"

The Maharana Mewar Charitable Foundation Award Scheme
Sunday 9th March 2003