Bimla Bissel is an indispensable and personal secretary of a human connections for four ambassadors in Indian American, and is a kind of unofficial ambassador, and is an unusual local guide about the culture and complexity of the vast country. However, he died on January 9 at Delhi's home. 。 She was 92 years old.
According to her daughter Monsoon Vissel, the cause was a complication of diabetes.
Bissel's first ambassador boss is John Kenneth Garblais, a liberal economist who has a deep bond with India's Prime Minister Javaharlal Neloo. After him, Chester Bowls, an advocate of the Civil Rights Movement, followed by the advertiser.
Both are the appointment of John F. Kennedy, and among many complicated diplomatic events, it is Vissel's job to plan Jacqueline Kennedy's nine -day visit to India in 1962, and this event is the world. The media inside reported that he couldn't breathe. “Mrs. Mrs. Kennedy is welcomed by the arrival of India,” said First Lady's headline of the New York Times when First Lady arrived with his sister Lee Radiwill.
Bissel also gently told Kennedy that the gifts brought to the Indian hosts (a leather frame with a stamped stamp of “100 % American beef”) is not suitable.
When Richard Celeste was hired in 1963 as Bowls's personal secretary and embassy ceremony, he was embarrassed by the latter work. So Bissel picked up him.
“She was in charge of my education safely and elegantly,” said Celeste. Celeste later became the Special envoy of the Peace Corps, Governor Ohio, and President Bill Clinton. She also scooped up for dinner every night until his wife arrived with a newborn.
Everyone, Vissel, was a social network for one woman, a dexterous salonist who seemed to know all important people in every field.
According to friends and colleagues, she had a thoughtful and diplomatic personality. She was curious, playful and sociable. She read 14 newspapers every morning. She was politically insight, and in his later years he was able to predict local elections to the number of votes. She had empathy, friendship, and supernatural abilities to nurture and maintain their friendship.
Her worshipers include the head of the state, diplomat, policy planet, NGO coaches, journalists, film directors, writers, craftsmen, artists, students, etc. It was collected for luxurious lunches and dinner. Located in a lush development area in the southern part of Delhi, it is packed with crafts, textiles, artworks and antiques.
She and her husband, John Bissel, were Delhi's educational institution. He was a graduated Yale college graduate born of a crisp connecticut, and in 1958 he traveled to India with a subsidy of the Ford Foundation and did not leave India in India and his future wife. He established a company that exports Indian crafts, and then establishes a school to educate craftsmen.
One of the many journalists that Vissel has drawn into a circle, Marie Brenner, said their home was a kind of Arctic. Some people called Grand Central East from the open policy. “I was always full of wonderful people,” said Brenner. “The energy of the activity was a very high -level political and intelligent discussion.”
Celeste says: “John was a dreamer, and Vim was a runner. She had a lot of knowledge and her intuition was very solid.”
At one point, Celeste noticed that Bissel was working on two jobs. In the mid -1950s, she established a playhouse, the first advanced kindergarten in Delhi. This was the starting point for many generations of Indian and foreign children.
“As time goes on, we have come to understand that the playhouse school plays a role in attracting diligent and ambitious Indian families,” said Celeste. “Vim has built a dynamic relationship as a social secretary, which gave her a unique Rolodex.”
Michael Bennett, a family friend of Colorado, described Bissel as “an extraordinary civil diplomat in India.” (He was born in India, and his father Douglas Bennet was also an assistant to Ambassador Bowls.)
He added in an email that “She was a lit light for many generations who welcomed Delhi, especially for young people who loved and fascinated by her wonderful life.” Ta.
Bimla Nanda, known as Bim, was born on October 12, 1932 in Quetta, part of Pakistan. She was the eldest daughter of Shita (Cibal) Nanda and her three daughters, Nasnas Nanda, a veterinary surgeon who became the independent Indian livestock committee. According to Vissel, he was also a table tennis champion who invented a unique paddle known as “Nanda Grip.”
Vim grew up in Laahor in the Punjab region and spent his family moving to Delhi immediately after the split in 1947. She majored in English at Miranda House Women's University in Delhi University.
Her first marriage was a matchmaking with the appropriate family's assistant, but it was short and unfortunate. At that time, he could not think of a divorce, but Vim left India with his husband, went to Michigan University, and gained a master's degree in education in 1958. When he returned to Japan, he was in the village and was banned from participating in Delhi's Jimkhana Club. A social club that is a remnant of the Indian rule.
“She broke all the customs,” she said. She did it because she was a necessary life to live. “
When Vim Nanda arrived under the Ford Foundation subsidy, Vim Nanda worked in a government agency promoting traditional crafts. He quickly became absorbed in her. She thought he was hooked on his country. In any case, they quickly became friends while Bissel was persuading her with enthusiasm and severe discipline. For the next five years, she sent a note and red rose every day, according to her.
At one point, Bissel's mother intervened. “I want to know your feelings for my son,” she told Vim. “He is in love with you.”
“I love India,” said Bim.
“I know my son, and it's time to catch fish or cut food,” said Bissel.
They married in Bowls in 1963.
Bissel has established a company that sells products such as furniture, clothing, and jewelry made by Indian craftsmen, based on his wife's help and connection. At first I was active from one room in his rental apartment. For decades, the company has grown into a well -known name in India, has been exporting, and has hundreds of retail stores nationwide.
After Bowls's appointment in 1969, Vissel served the successor Kenneth B. Keyting and Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moinihan, ending in 1975.
Later, she joined the World Bank as a diplomatic officer in India, basically as a banking ambassador to the bank, and a bank expatriate looking for children's housing and schools, and shopping with his wife. , Telephone line settings. In cooperation with a large number of non -governmental organizations, she established Udyogini, one of the non -governmental organizations with the mission of giving power to Indian female entrepreneurs.
In addition to his daughter, Vissel has his son William, two grandchildren, and his sister Mina Shin. Bissel died in 1998.
After leaving the World Bank in 1996, Bissel worked as a consultant in many organizations and continued to be the center of the flirls of different cultural societies. She sold a school play house in 2005. Until her death, her home trusted her political insight and continued to be a glorious politician, artist, and literary people who were energetic by her friendship.
Former Mayor Los Angeles, Eric Garetti, who retired from the US ambassador to India, also favored Bissel as well as his predecessors.
“You are Indian,” he told her. “And India is you.”
