RAJAJI
T.
V. VISWANATHA AIYAR
When
we think of Rajaji, we are reminded of one, slightly bent in frame, with dark
glasses and the inevitable walking stick, one who is all brains and no brawn,
steadfast in purpose and iron of will, who sets goals high, however big, the
obstacle or great, the sacrifice. It is difficult for those of small mind and
little knowledge to understand, much less to appreciate him. The unknowing may
even think he has been suffering from the vice of virtue but the discerning
will readily grant that it was all born of clear and close analysis, of ends
and means. He was an Everest among Himalayan peaks, not easy to approach or to
conquer. He was unapproachable in more senses than one. He was rather like
Rama, an ideal to be attempted, than a
Looking
at the great service he rendered us in interpreting our classics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the immortal Kural
and the lovely Bhajagovindam, we
are lost in admiration of how one great mind understands and interprets other
great minds, the seers of old, all in such simple and chaste Tamil or English.
Rajaji’s
insistence on observance of Dharma in our daily lives, social behaviour and in
the act of government, and his warnings to us in our dealings with the outside
world, all stemmed out of his ability to turn the searchlight of his powerful
mind inwards to the problems of the day and seeing the dangers ahead as a
doctor Bees the bacilli, dirt and disease through his powerful microscope.
He
was responsible, single-handed and more than any other, to give content and
courage to a meaningful opposition to the ruling party and put it in the dock,
as it were, with an impressive charge sheet of commissions and omissions. Even
when one did not agree with him in all he said, one had no doubt about his
sincerity, sense of duty and purpose. Let us also not forget the pain and
poignancy with which he was doing all this in the last two decades of his life.
He gave of his all to the cause of the nation and grew grey in the service of
the Indian National Congress, and was accepted for long, as its great and shining exemplar and support. It was his indomitable will and love of our
motherland, sense of national duty, that sustained
him.
He
had his own share of grief and suffering. Lesser minds would have quailed and
given up the struggle.
His
own ideal is Valluvar’s dictum:
“Do
not say to yourself, let me see
about it later when I shall be better
fitted. Live the true
religious life
now. It will be the one unfailing
support while all else will
disappear
and be of no use.”
(Kural –
Rajaji’s translation)
By
all standards, age and experience, wisdom and knowledge, discipline and
character, he was a real Chakravarti and
Bharata Ratna.
He
was a power-house, as it were, which served to give both light and power to
whomsoever that pressed the right switch. He was in truth and fact a national asset and his light, power and
energy were available to all alike, like the Sun, unasked and equally.
Let
me conclude with a prayer which besides being a “Prayer for our times” serves
amply to portray the moral and spiritual grandeur of Rajaji’s life and thought.
God!
Merciful
God!
Because
a dark deepening crisis
Is
engulfing this beloved land of our...
Give
us men a time like this demands
Honest
men
Men
of strong minds
of big hearts
and true faith
Men
whom lust of power
will not corrupt
Men
whom spoils of office
will not buy
Men
for whom
Service
to the nation
will come
before their selfs
Men
who will not indulge
in gimmickry
Men
who will not feed us
on slogans or
on stunts
Give
us, O God!
Men
of honour,
of integrity
Men
who can
and will
Stand
up to demands
of demagogy
Men
who will not
yield to trecherous
flatterers
Men
who will live
above the fog
and fluff of mock
adulation
God!
Give us such men
a trying and testing time
like this demands.
“It
is difficult to think of
–Dr S.
RADHAKRISHNAN