Dear Jayanthi Natarajan,This letter was not supposed to be written to you. It was to be written to Kamala Laxman, writer of The Thama Stories and wife of the late great cartoonist RK Laxman who passed away this week, offering condolences and ruminating about what it must have been like being the companion to a genius.But, of course the urgency of breaking news and the deep import of what you have set in motion by your press conference, after the letter you wrote to the President of the Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi, was published in a newspaper cannot be overstated.As I wrote this, Ms Natarajan, your news conference is underway and there you are in a beautiful bright yellow and vermillion silk sari speaking of your family's deep and abiding legacy of service to the nation and your own 30 years of loyal faithful service to the Congress."Three generations before me, fought for the independence of our country from the British, and spent many long years in jail, along with other stalwarts of the freedom movement. After independence, my family served the country and the Congress party with great dedication, and my grandfather who was the last Congress Chief Minister of the State, my aunt who was a selfless social worker, has etched the name of my family in the annals of our history as patriots and nationalists." You had written in your anguished letter to Sonia Gandhi in November last year.What strikes me most about your anguish, Ms Natarajan, is that whether it is for political opportunism (as the cynics and Congress loyalists are saying), whether it is to save our own skin or jump ship, the sentiments you have expressed and the values you have invoked are so rare and missing from the political narrative of this country that I am compelled to salute you.How often do we have a politician striking out to save family honor, the sacred and venerable legacy of family or personal integrity in such a spirited way?How often does one see some one sticking their neck out to set the record straight on their honor?"I myself have served the Congress party since 1984, have been a four time MP, and a former Minister of State without a single blemish on my reputation, in terms of integrity in public life, and my loyalty to my party and my country. Thirty years later, for no fault of mine, I find that my own small work, and the glorious legacy of my family stand ruined." You wrote to the Congress President after you were systematically sidelined, vilified and set upon by the Congress' dirty tricks department when it appears that they wanted to make nice with industry and big business in the run up to the LS elections.In the next few days, Ms Natarajan, you will occupy a prime slot in the national discourse. What is being hashtagged as 'Congress Revolt' will be the focal point in the shambolic winding down of the beleaguered party.If you, a fourth generation Congresswoman could raise the flag of revolt against the once all-powerful party, how many others who have been dismayed, disgruntled, disappointed and wounded not follow suit?Could this lead to the formation of a new Congress, ridding it of the Gandhi albatross? Could this be a future threat to the BJP juggernaut?Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and by God, you've come out with all guns firing, Ms Natarajan.I began by saying that this letter was supposed to be written to Kamala Laxman, saluting her for her quiet and steadfast role in the life of RK Laxman as nurturer of his genius and keeper of his flame.Perhaps it is no coincidence I write to you instead, a compatriot of hers from the same state, who has reminded us of similar lofty and nobles values far beyond and deeper than the push and shove of the shabby realpolitik we are used to.By the time you read this letter, written on Friday afternoon, much will have transpired in your life and career and indeed in that of the Congress party's, but mercifully for all of us, the quest for honor integrity, legacy and justice will not have changed.Thank you for bringing it back in to political discourse.With every good wish, etc.malavikasmumbai@gmail.comThe writer believes in the art of letter writing. 

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING