Al-Risala (English), May-June 2001

a leader be as discreet and careful as possible in his decisionmaking. He should consider all of the possible pros and cons. He should look before he leaps. His failing to do so would amount to an unpardonable offence. It would be far better for him to take no action at all than to plunge the whole nation into strife and torment. □ Capability and Alertness Raja Mohinder Pratap (1886-1979) was one of those Indians who went to Russia and met Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924). He was one of a delegation of freedom-fighters who met the Russian leader in 1919. He tells how, when he entered the room of the first ruler of communist Russia, Lenin rose to his feet, and went himself to fetch a small armchair from the corner of the room. Raja Mohinder Pratap took his seat on the armchair, and Lenin sat next to him on a sofa. The revolutionary leader’s first sentence was: “In which language should I speak: English, German, French or Russian?” It was finally settled that the conversation would be conducted in English. Raja Mohinder Pratap offered Lenin a copy of his book ‘The Religion of Love.’ “I have read this book,” Lenin said, as soon as he took hold of it. Raja Mohinder Pratap was astonished. Where on earth could Lenin have obtained the book? The previous evening, Lenin explained, when Raja Mohinder Pratap had met his secretary to fix the time of appointment, he had given the secretary a copy of the book. “I took it from him and read it during the night, in order to familiarize myself with the thought of the person I was going to meet the next day.”