The moon was shining bright and a
calm breeze was blowing as the river quietly flowed. On the banks was a parapet
on which sat an old man wearing his trademark jacket and beard that was finely
trimmed. He took off his spectacles and cleaned them with a spotless white
handkerchief he brought out from the pocket of his crisp white kurta. Looking at him, you could not make out what
was going through his mind, but the wrinkles on his forehead gave away the
worries the man kept away from the world. A young boy caught his attention for
a moment as he saw him throwing flat pieces of stones on the water. The more
the number of flips the stone would do, the louder was the boy’s laughter. The
old man was amused when the boy offered him a stone to try and beat his five
flips. The man smilingly declined the offer but patted the boy encouraging him
to beat his own record.
Suddenly from nowhere, two large
shadows appeared. The old man wasn’t bothered as the two shadowy figures came
and sat beside him. It seemed the old man had summoned for these people who
looked old, but charming, with broad smiles on their faces. The newcomers
started patting the old man’s back…Wonderful…You are the true son of Gujarat
who has made the state so proud. Winning the elections once is in itself a big
achievement and doing it twice in succession makes you among the greatest Gujjus
of all times.
The embarrassed old man for once
could not hide his joy but said with all humbleness, “ No matter what I do or
anyone does, there will never ever be two taller Indians than the two of you.
You transcend generations and times and yet your name and fame keep growing by
the day. That is true greatness and I bow my head in respect to the two of
you.” The old man went down on his knees, bent forward and touched the earth
with his forehead as he paid reverence to the two elderly gentlemen.
“Get up Naren,” said the older of
the two with a stick in one hand and just a loin cloth around the middle….half
naked fakir, you would have mistaken him had you seen him at the street
crossing. “You gave me such a gift that I cannot thank you enough. This
Sabarmati embankment that you have done has brought so much joy to me after
years of neglect. Today the river flows round the year cooling the place, the
embankment is kept clean, the gardens are so well maintained and now with so
many people coming, I am happy and thankful to you.”
“Yes Naren, you have made me so
much taller today, was getting lost in sands of time and history of the nation
as it is being taught,” said the taller of the two who wore a crisp white dhoti
kurta with a wrap around his shoulders. “The statue you have built for me today
is the tallest in the world. People come to see me in thousands every day. The
lake and the landscaping around, makes the place even better than many
historical places and more importantly happy to be back in history books for
the right reason. Just add an umbrella on top because the birds throw their
droppings on my head and I don’t like it.”
“We are proud of you. Tomorrow is
your coronation at Delhi and yet today you are here and requesting for our
audience! Why us, why today?”
“Dear Bapu and Sardar, I wanted
to not only seek your blessings but wanted some advice on how to do better
in the next term. In the first term I did a lot, I tried a lot, I achieved some
major gains but maybe there were a few mistakes and could have done better.
What would you want me to do this time? Tell me and I shall make it happen.”
The two elder statesmen looked at
each other and nodded their heads as if they knew the question before it was
even uttered. “We offer you just once piece of advice- follow the Rajadharma.
The kings of history have given way to democratically elected people and you
being the leader are the Raja, the Nayak of the Nation. The Dharma or the right
way of ruling and is not much different from what the two of us did in our times,
even though we never were anointed kings. So now give us your ears as we tell
you our stories leading to the right way of ruling the people.”
Bapu spoke first. “Naren, the
first and foremost duty of any king is to unite the people for a common cause
which is what we did in our times. All our efforts were to unite every person
in the country to see the exploitation and brutality of the colonial rulers. If
only one or two sections of people of this country would have participated, do
you think we would have achieved success in throwing out the British rulers?
No, never. Every section of the populace was with us- the farmers, the workers,
the weavers, the traders, the students, the teachers, the lawyers, the young,
the old, the women…from Champaran to Noakhali, from Dandi March to Quit India, all my life was to make sure we
Indians were all welcome into the freedom movement and fought together against
the common enemy. The satyagrahas, the
fasts and the walks I undertook were to harness the support of all sections. If
there were disputes and disagreements, we found solutions and never lost touch
with the masses. There was never any discrimination about the colour, the
religion, about what they ate and how they lived. Personal lives were left
alone and not attempted to be tampered with. Get practical and real and grow
beyond narrow definitions of nation, nationalism and religious bigotry. Unite
the people, unite the nation and not do anything that breaks down the beautiful
multiplicity mosaic culture called India. Make this a country of people with
love and compassion for each other, where hatred and vindictiveness has no
place in your heart, where every citizen is proud to call himself an Indian
First, Indian to the End. Bharat Jodo, Naren, Bharat ko Jodo.
Sardar took over where Bapu left.
“Why do people remember me even to this day? Simple, I worked for many causes
but history will remember me for ensuring the princely states, which were
pockets of prosperity in the ocean of poverty and many of them wanted to remain
independent with their own flags and forces, were all forced to become part of
the one nation called India. When the marauders from the north came to forcibly
occupy our country, we made sure we beat them away and made sure Kashmir
remained an integral part of the country. My actions of freedom struggle
including Bardoli Movement and other agitations against the British rule were
all aimed to bring all sections of society under one roof of opposition to the
oppressive regime that ruled us for centuries. Today that you have immortalized
me with this Statue of Unity, become the flame that carries the same message
that heals cracks and fractures, treat the believer and the non-believer alike,
love the eater and the non-eater without bias. Once again, even at the cost of
repetition I will say, Bharat Jodo, Naren, Bharat ko Jodo.
By now the night was fading, the
first rays of sun were yet to come from behind the clouds and early birds were
beginning to make themselves heard. Out of a corner, a peacock appeared, opened
up its plumes, danced a little and then walked away in all regality. Naren
picked up a beautiful feather left behind by the peacock. As he stood admiring,
Bapu asked Naren, “Tell me, who does this feather remind you of?”
“Lord Krishna for sure!”
“Yes, very true but do you know
why Krishna is so popular? He meant something to everyone. For the mothers he
was a naughty child yet loving and honest; for the women he was the immortal
lover; for the cowherds he was one of them; for the farmers there was his
brother Balaram with the plough; for the kshatriyas he was a brave warrior; for
the ruling class he is a king of Yadavas…in short there is no one who cannot
identify himself or herself with Krishna. Be like Krishna, who had guile and
anger but the other qualities that made him a favourite of the masses. People
could identify themselves with Krishna as a friend, a savior and a family
member. He should be your role model- try to not act like God but act with
Good-ness. Having won two times, no one can take away your place in history.
Now is the time to leave behind a legacy which does good to the masses without
fear. Deliver the achhe din you promised through sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka
vishwas….that is your Rajadharma.”
God Bless My
Country.
SS
