Jottings - Slice of life - 229 ( Dr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee - the philosopher-statesman of Modern India (1924 - 2018))

Jottings - Slice of life - 229 ( Dr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee - the philosopher-statesman of Modern India (1924 - 2018))

Somehow, I can never forget that day - 27th May 1996. Even at this distance of Twenty odd years, with so many experiences and memories crowding, I cannot but remember with emotional pride and awe the composed, mature and stoic demeanor of Atal Bihari Vajpayee clad in trademark kurta and vest, with sagely eyes reflecting deep thought and erudition, and hair greyed with age and learning - as he stood up to deliver his majestic and pointed address to fellow parliamentarians on how flimsy and insubstantial their claim on history was and how by capriciously uniting against a majority party that had the national mandate, they were making a mockery of democratic values, twisting the legalities of the house and putting the welfare of India at stake.As he spoke that day, he was fully aware, that his thirteen day governance was about to come to an end, and his government dissolved for lack of majority. But that did not deter the veteran leader from carving out a majestic case for what BJP had achieved in coming thus far. In chaste Hindi, punctuated in his trademark style and emphatic body language, he surrendered and resigned with pride, and heralded the arrival of BJP as a national party beyond the sectarianism that had helped build it since independence.

for forty long years, The country was ruled by the congress or its cronies, who assumed themselves invincible. No one, in their wildest dreams ,thought that a party driven by RSS, and strongly influenced by Hindutva could outrun the congress and emerge on the national arena as the single largest party. The impossible had happened in 1996, if only for thirteen days - and Vajpayee's speech that day, reflected in full measure that pride and sense of this great achievement. He knew, at that moment, no one can stop the flowing tide of BJP from then on. Their time on India's stage had begun, and it was only matter of time before BJP ruled with unequivocal majority. In 2014, his dream was realized, when Narendra Modi, swept the Indian elections like a tidal wave, The little eddy that Vajpayee started in 1996 swelled into a big surging wave consuming everything on its way, obliterating every opposition and stand fully in command of Indian nation for now and the foreseeable future.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee retired from active politics around 2005 as his health deteriorated. He had done his job. From his freedom fighting days during the quit India movement, to time In RSS, to his firm stand against emergency declared in 1975, to strengthening the grassroots of newly formed BJP and giving it a more egalitarian outlook, to his wonderful tenure as one of the finest foreign affairs minster India has known , to his gentle yet stern command of the party often filled with strong willed people, to his ground breaking infrastructural projects that lay the foundations for economically vibrant India - Vajpayee had filled a full live of an outstanding Statesman. Everyone, cutting across party lines, loved the man for what he stood for and did. It will fair to say that the dignity of BJP as a national party to large extent is because of him.

The greek philosopher Plato, often wrote of "philosopher- statesman", who should be given the governance of a country. In his magnum opus and most significant treatise "The republic", Plato mentions the essential qualities of such a leader. He writes: a leader should be a celibate not given to whims of flesh, has erudition in different fields of knowledge, should be a natural lover of poetry and sensitive to movements in literature, should be contemplative who can lift his self from narrowing concerns and look at the bigger picture, should possess the moral authority to gather consent from men of dissenting minds and strong wills, and more importantly, he should implicitly know when to relinquish the reins of power and retire from active public life. Atal Bihari Vajpayee met all the qualities Plato expected of a great leader.

All good things, however, must end. There is no sorrow in Vajpayee's demise. His suffering body has now found its peace, and spirit liberated to become one with the nation he so lovingly embraced with pride, honor and dignity. In his death, his vision and ideals should find a resurrection in body, mind and spirit of Indian Polity and every citizen. His legacy is in safe hands. In Narendra modi, we find a consummation of all the dreams that Vajpayee initiated. The Party has come a long way since those tentative moments in 1996. It is now strong, united and has the consent of the people of India. Opposition is nowhere to the found, not even in the fringes. In his last breath, I am sure, Vajpayee would have permitted himself an inner smile. The mantle is secure, and the baton firmly passed.

Farewell sir, you have reached your abode, rest now in infinity and in our hearts.

God bless...

yours in mortality,

Bala