HE WAS A GOOD MAN

“Who lives if India doesn’t survive?”

-     Mr. Arun Jaitley

I first took notice of Mr. Arun Jaitley when he was a spokesperson of BJP. His party ideology aside, I have, always, admired him for his natural flow of words. His articulation was impeccable… It was not only sharp, focused and persuasive, it was, also, very bold. Even when I had disagreed, often, with his views on several issues, my admiration for his grace and demeanor, always, remained intact.

I don’t’ understand politics.  I think, it’s good for me!

But, a few things I do understand…

ONE: Health is really wealth! When I used to watch Mr. Jaitley speak with such intensity, passion and aggression in the Parliament, during the tensed debates on Rafael controversy, I would feel bad and sad. He had just returned from the US after a prolonged treatment for cancer, kidney and many related ailments. I wished he took good care of himself, recovered well…  No medicines and no doctors in the world can help us unless we help ourselves. The kind of debates Mr. Jaitley engaged himself in, when he was supposed to rejuvenate in quietness and by being less reactive, certainly, must’ve taken a toll on his health. I was, always, worried about him…

Body needs to be listened to. We all come to know, when we refuse to listen to our bodies…

The Karma Yogis don’t listen to their bodies. Mr. Jaitley was a Karma Yogi!

TWO: We all are dispensable. Well, in the thick of our action and in the heady-giddy height of our power, we don’t think so… We think – you, I and all – that the World revolves around us. It doesn’t. No matter who we are… how intelligent and powerful… we ‘are’ dispensable. So, we must learn to quit, when our body, mind and heart tell us to.

But, then, it’s easier said than done. We spend our entire life trying to gain control and power… and, to quit?

Not easy, I understand.

But, then, the inevitable is the only indispensable thing in this world!

THREE: They praise you more when you are gone… Even those who hated you when you lived. Yes, the dead buffalo, always, gave more milk, you see!

Every time I see people writing in the comment slot, on someone’s death, those three letters – ‘R.I.P’, I wonder how many of them are heartfelt!

Muttering ‘R.I.P.’ has become a meaningless ritual. When good people go, those who had felt the goodness of the departed feel the loss, the pain. Unless that’s felt, it’s pointless muttering ‘Rest in Peace’…

Rest assured!

Often, we are so involved in our respective areas of control and power, that, someone needs to shake us hard and tell what, a true well-wisher of mine, had told me once, when I myself needed it the most. “You may be thinking that you are a selfless soul. But, remember, when you go, all that you can expect from many around you is a ten-rupee garland of marigold and those last words: ‘He was a good man’!"

I am no one to judge others’ feelings when it comes to Mr. Arun Jaitley. Neither my garland is made of ten-rupee marigold nor of ten-crore gold…

“He was a good man” … I say it through my words, which I truly mean!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: The News Minute