That is an unprecedented achievement for a man who despite his saffron hues actually displayed the colours of the rainbow
Member of Parliament, National Spokesperson Congress, Chairman Parliamentary Standing Committee and eminent jurist Dr Abhishek Singhvi had this to say:
Few politicians today are made in the mould in which God made Vajpayee. He had a natural warmth and even in bad moments, you could not call it a hypocritical or an invented stance. Perhaps no one could, with a greater economy of words, gestures, or facial expressions convey more than Vajpayee. His magnanimity was legendary; his lack of vendetta and pettiness, known globally; his laid-back ease and conviviality hid the sharpest of minds and the wittiest of tongues.
I recall many anecdotal interactions with this great man. Once, when I attended some formal book release function at the PM's official residence auditorium, Panchvati, a day after ferociously attacking his government as Congress spokesperson, I was deliberately avoiding his eye contact in the tea held after the function. From the other end of the lawn, he came up to me with a twinkling eye and said, "Badshahon, agar bahar attack kartey hain, to kam se kam aankh to nahi churaiye." He then plied me with tea and sweets personally. A second incident in which I was not present but saw photos and videos of, was the remarkable atmosphere when Vajpayee's poetry was sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the drawing room of the palatial 9 KPG London, the official residence of the Indian High Commissioner, which was then my father. A third moment of touching warmth I recall was when a book by Vajpayee himself was released with an unusual panel comprising Shivmangal Singh Suman, my father LM Singhvi and Narasimha Rao.
These and several other moments validate the fundamental point that India's democracy is capacious and personal grudges, vendettas and narrowness of thought and deed can be eschewed among the heat and dust of politics. Most political parties wish that if there must be a government of a party other than their own, then it has to be a Vajpayee government. That is an unprecedented achievement for a man who despite his saffron hues actually displayed the colours of the rainbow.
India is truly poorer today. India has truly lost a real Indian, a true epitome of the idea of India.
(As told to Amrita Madhukalya)
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