Phyllis M. Eling

PHYLLIS M. ELING

Wife of Former Consul General of India

and Envoy to the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman

PHYLLIS M. ELING, (nee HEWETT), 92, wife of Walter E. Eling, Esquire, B.E.M., former Consul General of India and Envoy to the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, died in Washington, DC on July 2, 2005. A memorial service was held on Saturday, July 16, 2005.

Mrs. Eling was born in Madras, India, on December 7, 1912, and grew up in Whitefield, a suburb of Bangalore, India, with her maternal aunt and aunt's husband, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Nurse. They lived on an enormous estate named Redwood, which had been built on the racecourse, and which had tennis courts and orchards. Her uncle was a judge and her aunt, the headmistress of an exclusive girls' school.

She led a very privileged life, traveling with her aunt and uncle by ship to England in the 1900's, where they rented a house in Kensington. On a subsequent occasion they journeyed to Australia to learn about the grafting of several different varieties of peaches, since they cultivated peaches in their orchards.

Mrs. Eling who adored children, trained as a midwife in Bangalore and received her diploma from Vani Villas Hospital. She thereafter practiced at the J.J. Wadia Hospital in Bombay. Because of her winning ways and enormous efficiency, she was very much in demand, especially by the maharanis of various royal families who would shower her with gifts in silver and gold.

Mr. and Mrs. Eling were married at St. Mark's Church in Bangalore on May 29, 1940, and had an elegant reception thereafter, at Binnyston Gardens.

Mr. Eling had a very distinguished career. He served the British Raj under three Viceroys, Lord Linlithgow, Viscount Lord Wavell and the King's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma. The latter had been delegated by the King to represent him during the transition of power from Britain to India. This took place in August 1947.

Mr. Eling who had been Superintendent, Waziristan Residency, had been awarded a Certificate by the Army Commander for "Services Rendered" during 1936-1937; then in 1938 another Certificate by the Army Commander for "Devotion to Duty". He was also awarded a Sanad from the Governor of the N.W.F. Province "in recognition of his loyal services to Government during the disturbances in Waziristan from 1936 to 1938".

Mr. Eling was the recipient of an I.G.S. Medal-N.W.F. Province 1936-37, and also a Bar to the I.G.S. Medal for these Operations. In 1941 he was awarded an Order of the British Empire Medal "For Meritorious Service" while serving as Superintendent of the Waziristan Residency. During that time, he had been personally requested by Sir Arthur Parsons to accompany and assist him on an urgent special assignment to Quetta, Baluchistan, in May 1935, in connection with the worst earthquake to have hit South Asia until that time.

The Notification of the Order of the British Empire Medal was published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary of January 1941, and read "His Imperial Majesty, the KING, EMPEROR OF INDIA, has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Medal of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire to WALTER EDWARD ELING, Esquire, lately Superintendent, Waziristan Residency" (For Meritorious Service).

He was decorated with the Medal at an Investiture ceremony, replete with great pomp and circumstance, the equivalent of that held at Buckingham Palace in London. The ceremony was conducted at The Viceroy's House in New Delhi on Saturday, February 21, 1942; Mrs. Eling also attended.

Mr. Eling was the first non-British person to be invited to work in his capacity in the Viceroy's private office, and he was thereafter put in charge of this operation. The Viceroy and his staff would travel on the Viceregal train, which was reserved only for them and had been custom built to specification. It had teak and rosewood panelled interiors, gold and brass fittings, chandeliers, a dining saloon and full-sized baths complete with showers, and was extremely opulent. It departed from the New Delhi Ceremonial Station.

Mr. Eling also accompanied the Viceroys on shikars to many parts of India and Nepal to hunt for lion, tiger, rhinoceros, and various types of fowl. They would live in special tents in areas that had been cleared for these hunting expeditions. Their food was flown in from Firpo's Restaurant in Calcutta.

Mr. Eling excelled in sports and was on the Viceroy's Tennis Team. He won the tennis trophies for two years in succession. In addition, he was a part of the cricket team which included Sir George Abell, Private Secretary to Lord Wavell, and thereafter to Lord Mountbatten, who was a great sportsman and had been classified as an "Oxford Blue" in cricket. The matches included some played against the Maharajah of Patiala's team. The Maharajah, who was an excellent player, also took part in some of the matches which were held on the grounds of his beautiful Palace in Chail, near Simla.

Mr. and Mrs. Eling resided at Viceregal Estate in New Delhi in the winters and at Delville on the Viceroy's Estate in Simla (a cooler hill station and the summer quarters of the Viceroys) in the summers.

After India gained independence from Britain, Mr. Eling joined the Indian Foreign Service and traveled to Tehran, Iran, to help set up the first Embassy there. Mrs. Eling and their daughter followed him a few months later.

Mr. and Mrs. Eling traveled extensively while Mr. Eling was in the Foreign Service, serving in Moscow, USSR, where he was specially delegated to work with Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan - philospher and statesman- who was then the ambassador and who had attended Madras Christian College, as had Mr. Eling. Dr. Radhakrishnan subsequently went on to become Vice-President and then President of India. He kept in touch with Mr. and Mrs. Eling and their daughter until his death in 1975.

Mr. and Mrs. Eling were also transferred to Paris, France, Washington, DC, USA, Ottawa, Canada, Stockholm, Sweden and Muscat, Oman.

During their tour in Washington, DC (1957-1960), Mrs. Eling besides having a very busy social schedule - the couple was well-known among the diplomatic corps for their summer tennis garden parties and winter cocktail, lunch and dinner parties - took part in many charitable activities with the ladies of the Indian Embassy.

She loved gardening, walking, reading, and was a prolific and entertaining letter writer who took pleasure in writing long and descriptive letters about their daily lives in various countries, to their families and friends.

Mr. Eling was subsequently appointed as Consul-General and Special Envoy to the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman by President Rajendra Prasad of India, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

During their stay in Muscat, they were frequently invited to the Palace in Salala to visit with Sultan Said bin Timur. He had been educated in India and was very amicable and hospitable towards them. He would arrange for their escort and transport to and from the Palace by a specially manned fleet of planes. This escort would wait for them during their visits - usually three days - and then transport them back to Muscat. They also met and were friendly with several members of the Royal Family.

On their departure from Muscat, they were garlanded by the Indian community who had turned out en masse to wish them a safe and happy voyage and godspeed.

The whole of Muscat was on shore as well on that day and raised cheers when they boarded a motor boat to take them to their ship. As the launch went past the Fort, they were accorded a thirteen-gun salute which they stood up in the launch to acknowledge.

Mrs. Eling and her husband both lived almost a century each, during a very important period of Indo-British history under the reign of the British Raj, the transition of power from Britain to India and the coming into being of India as the largest democracy in the world.

Mr. and Mrs. Eling returned to Washington, DC in 1968 to live with their only child, and remained here until each one's demise.

Mrs. Eling's husband of 61 years, Walter E. Eling, Esq., B.E.M. died in 2001.

Survivors include a daughter Valerie Eling of Washington, DC and Bangalore, India, and a grandson, Kevin Faria, of Washington, DC.