Dr. Manmohan Singh

 Just a cursory view of  what is being written about the man that I personally admired would create a clear picture of kind of a person he was. Humility, decency, integrity, humbleness, soft spoken, courage of conviction, giant in economics, and many more. When someone's life become synonym with such exalting words then there's not much to say but in his core Dr Manmohan Singh was a simple man with his heart in right place and in my childhood I always found comfort in a thought that my prime minister is essentially a simple , good man. I never needed him to be outspoken or charismatic. His genuineness was enough for me to trust him. This blog isn't about him but its about me and how a bearded man born in erstwhile west Punjab who became India's 13th Prime minister gave a homely and comforting feeling to a boy in his teenage. Dr Singh lost his mother at very very young age, despite the turbulent times of sub continent  he traversed from Punjab to Peshawar to Delhi and then Oxford via Cambridge. This itself is reflective of Dr Singh's  resilience and conviction. 

My pain is different that that of his family or friends. mine is more self interested. the first feeling after hearing news of his passing was . ' I wish i could have met him.' then the obvious feeling of loss and anticipation of how country would respond to his passing. I hated to see that people would flood the streets for death of hate mongering people but they would not come out of street even for a day to show their last respect to a man who changed the fortune of this land which he loved and always cared for. Dr Singh hoped that history would be kinder to him. I don't think so. His contribution as a finance minister have been so well established but in the same way his tenure as a PM is being muddied or conveniently overlooked not just by his opponents but by his own party. It was Dr Singh's decency that costed him a lot. He was old school Nehruvian who lived in a  belief that if action are right then one should not give heed to perception. 

Dr Singh was a reluctant politician and Plato has said somewhere that those who are hesitant to take power are right people for the position of power. Dr Singh proved it more than Plato would imagine. His being at South block was reassuring. 

His decisiveness was gentle. His conviction was not a tool of chest thumping. His hard work wasn't meant to flood social media. his walk was awkward but his steps were firm. his words had weight of  renowned economist but his eyes had novelty of child. His core was strong enough that he never had to play the game with arrogance.

sometimes I imagine , had I met him, what would have I asked him? had I asked him about his early days in Punjab university, or how he met his future wife, what memories he has of his mother, what would his father think of what his son has accomplished. 

 but most of the time I feel , I am not yet smart enough to meet him. may be somewhere , someday, certainly not on this planet but on the journey to beyond i hope he crosses path with me and by then I hope I acquire enough intellect and simplicity that he will enjoy conversation with me.

after 30 or may 40 year people would ask, how was Manmohan Singh, I would certainly tell them everything i know but i will surely start with a exalting hindi sentence

' yaar , kya aadmi tha!'

adios Dr Singh. A worthy son of bharatmata.