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By Girija Madhavan In diplomatic life, bonds of friendship overcome cultural barriers. For diplomats, getting to know the people of the country in which they are posted is a satisfying objective. In the Indian Embassy in Bonn, in the late 1980s, we met and made friends with Germans, appreciated their values and punctiliousness. Gisela Bonn [1909- 1996], writer and Indologist, was a well-known personality in both German and Indian circles. She was decorated with a Padma Shri in 1990 for her contribution to Indo-German relations. A slim, elderly woman with upswept hair, luminous pearl earrings and necklace, she favoured an old fashioned but still elegant style of dress. She was a friend of Indira Gandhi and was close to the family. We met her for the first time when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Germany in June, 1988. ....