My first meeting with Nelson Mandela was when he visited India after his release from prison in 1990. I happened to be visiting Delhi from Assam and found out that he was to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture at Teen Murti House. I had the good fortune of spending 7-8 minutes talking to him, as he was sitting alone in the front row, waiting for the arrival of the then Prime Minister V.P. Singh so that the function could begin.