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Published by THE COMMUNIST PARTY 16 KING STREET LONDON W.C.2 Printed by FARLEIGH PRESS LTD. (T.U. all depts.) BEECHWOOD WORKS, WATFORD, HERTS CP/V/5/3/54 INDIAN DIARY By HARRY POLLITT December 12. I COULD not sleep last night through excitement at landing at Bombay this morning. I was on deck at 6 a.m., just as we began to enter the estuary at Bombay. It was a wonderful spectacle. The hills on the starboard side behind which the sun was rising made a splendid dash of colour. On the port side the first outline of Bombay began to appear. By 7 a.m. the Batory had tied up at the quayside. It was 8 a.m. before the Indian officials came on board for all the usual formalities. By 9 a.m. I heard a tremendous shouting, but the only words I could make out were "Harry Pollitt." Soon hundreds of workers appeared on the quay; they were waving red flags and calling for me. Everybody on board came running on deck to see what the excite- ment was about, and the looks on the faces of my fellow passengers, and especially the Old India Hands, when they found it was myself who was being greeted, was something I will never forget. I finally got through the Customs, everybody being very kind and helpful, particularly the luggage porters, who were all coming up to shake my hand. But when I got into the street, what a sight met my astonished gaze. I was greeted by Comrades Mirajkar, Chary and Prasante. Mirajkar, of course, is one of the veterans of the Communist Party of India and one of the Meerut prisoners, along with Ben Bradley and Lester Hutchinson. I had to walk through a solid wall of enthusiastic workers. At every few yards I was garlanded and given bouquets, until by the time I reached the car I was weighed down with flowers. Arrived at my hotel, and was soon greeted by Comrade Ajoy Ghosh, the general secretary of the Indian Party, and Comrade Dange, well known to British workers. Afterwards had a rest, because the morning's excitement had been very exhausting. In the afternoon did a four-hour tour of Bombay. It's a great city, but also one where the contrast between rich and poor is sharper than I have ever seen before. Visited the splendid park on the Malabar Hills, and looking across the bay saw the Batory steaming away on the last lap of its journey to Karachi. I had spent some of the happiest hours of my life on the Batory. 3
