"This man would rejoice, and it would enhance the prestige of the institution too.

"The madman was brought to Jawaharlal. The first question he asked was 'Who are you?' The doctors were a little nervous. This is not the way to talk to the prime minister of the country.

"But Jawaharlal said, 'My name is Jawaharlal Nehru.'

"And the madman had a good laugh. He said, 'Don't be worried. It will take just three years, and you will be cured just as I am cured. These doctors are great. When I came to this place, I used to think in the same way – that I am Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Now you have come – strange coincidence, that I am going out and you are coming in.'

"It has been happening in many instances throughout the world. During the Second World War, Winston Churchill had gone for an evening walk. There used to be a certain fixed time that a horn would go off around the city. Everybody had to go inside the house, lights had to be dimmed, curtains had to be drawn. It was as if London had disappeared. But walking, and worried about the war, Winston Churchill forgot about the time and when he heard the horn he was miles away from his house. And it was a standing order that if anybody was found on the road after the horn stopped he could be shot, no questions would be asked. In a hurry, he knocked at the first door – it was a question of life and death – and a man opened the door. The man said, 'Who are you?'

"He said, 'You don't know me? I am Winston Churchill, prime minister of this country, and you don't know me?' And that man grabbed Churchill; Churchill said, 'What are you doing?'

"He said, 'Come in, because there are three more Winston Churchills here – this is a madhouse. Now all four of you decide who is the real one.'

"Churchill told him, 'Listen, I am telling the truth. I am the real one.'

"He said, 'They all say the same thing. Everybody is the real one. And we don't know any criteria to judge – they are all fat like you, they all smoke cigars."