Remembering Rajiv…

Sometime in 1986 I tore the middle page of my Arithmetic note-book and began scribbling a letter to Rajiv Gandhi. Fancy a junior school kid writing a letter to the Prime Minister. But, I did exactly this. In my letter to Rajiv Gandhi, I vividly recall writing more about my school and the problems I had with my teachers. I recall congratulating him on his achievements in Punjab. Call it ignorance or lack of understanding of politics as a child, I thought he was the good man and his achievements birthed the halcyon days in the state.Way back then, praises of his clean up of the state had reached a point of ad nauseam. Along with his role in Punjab, trumpets and bugles were blown for his efforts in introduction of the peace keeping forces in Sri Lanka too. Rajiv was the darling of the media. So much so, that even a third grader could predict what the daily news headlines would be. All news began and ended with Rajiv. I hated watching the news but for Rajiv Gandhi. The family by ritual sat to watch the daily DD news over dinner.Switching channels was not even an option. As I would play with the food on my plate, Rajiv would make an appearance. Dressed in customary white, with a starched Nehru cap on his head and his pale rose skin burnt and reddened under the blazing sun, Rajiv was undoubtedly the cynosure for the masses.

I would mimic Rajiv’s speeches. Rajiv was the founder of the banana republic. Every speech of Rajiv’a mandatorily included what he would do for the country and for the people. ” Hum yei banana hai, woh banana hai”.I had watched him amply on Doordarshan, he was the everyday headlines. Every telecast sang a new glory of the young Prime Minister in complete haleness. In the eighties there emerged a spectacular nimbus around Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv was young, dynamic and above all carried the Nehru – Gandhi dynasty clout. A good-looking man that Rajiv was, he surely had the women folk of the country firmly by his side. Now, I know the reason why I wrote a letter to Rajiv Gandhi. I could honestly not imagine writing one to Deve Gowda, not even if I were sent to the gallows and only the Prime Minister could save me!

Rajiv Gandhi was charismatic. Charisma does strange things to the psyche of people. Charisma overrides deficiencies. If I compare Rajiv Gandhi to the many Prime Ministers we have had after him, Rajiv Gandhi still has the edge on the charisma factor. But, due credit must be given to the man for his vision for a dynamic India.With his speech while addressing the Joint Session of the US Congress and India, he famously said, “India is an old country, but a young nation; and like the young everywhere, we are impatient. I am young and I too have a dream. I dream of an India, strong, independent, self-reliant and in the forefront of the front ranks of the nations of the world in the service of mankind.” Rajiv did live up to some of the expectations. Despite taking the office of the Prime Minister purely by riding the wave of sympathy post Indira Gandhi’s assassination, Rajiv Gandhi demonstrated his capabilities as a leader.He was the facilitator for important progress in Telecommunications and IT.

At a time like this with the nerve wrecking commonwealth games around the corner, one cannot help but miss the leadership capabilities of Rajiv Gandhi. Full marks must be given to Rajiv Gandhi who spear-headed the Asian Games. We had every reason to be proud of the games and Apu in 1982. Rahul Gandhi is not capable of following in the footsteps of his Father. I have never had any buoyant hopes on Rahul’s prowess as a leader or an organizer and his lack of involvement with the games has made it even more amply clear.

Bofors did Rajiv in and he was personally implicated in the scandal. But, we are at an age where much larger scandals are trending and Bofors pales in comparison in terms of quantum and significance. A man who took to the skies as a Pilot was reluctant to dabble in politics. But who isn’t? After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi too was a nay sayer and vowed not to venture into politics and look where we are today. As Lincoln famously said – “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”

Congress do not appear to be going anywhere despite trying to revive Rajiv back by building statues, naming stadiums and schemes after him or grandly trying to celebrate his birthday. Despite Rajiv’s many deficiencies, he was a leader who represented India well, at least he did not make us cringe when we watched him represent us at international events.When Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 in Sriperambadur, fate had the upper hand with him. The same fate kept Jayalalitha away from Sriperambadur. I recall watching images of Rajiv’s gory body splashed in newspapers and flashed on television. The only thing on him that bore semblance to its original form was the Lotto shoes he was wearing that night.

And yes, I did get a reply from him in 1986 and for the sake of Congress, he is much missed.