FRIEND, PHILOSOPHER, GUIDE AS PRACHARAK, CM AND PM

Indiraji imposed a State of National Emergency in 1975. My father was sent to jail. Leaders of the Sangh Parivar who went underground used to visit my home in disguise. Once, the doorbell rung and I went to see who it was. As I opened the door and looked at the face, I failed to recognise the visitor. I had never seen or met him before. When I asked him who he was, he said “First let me in and then we shall talk.” I did that and then he removed his hat. I was shocked. I yelled “Narendrabhai? What are you doing here?” He sat down inside and asked me about my father. I told him that he was still in jail.

I offered him lunch and he very graciously accepted. Narendrabhai and I had lunch together and I have very fond memories of that day.

Next, it was my sister’s wedding. All the prominent leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party attended her wedding. Narendrabhai was there too. Upon reaching the venue, he held my hand and we walked around the place together. I told him “Narendrabhai, you must have dinner. You are getting late.” To this he responded “No, I will wait for you to be free and then we shall eat.” After all the guests had left, we sat down together and had dinner. I mentioned to him that he had to go far and asked him how he planned to reach Hedgewar Bhawan. He said, “Take out your scooter and we will go together to the bus stand. Drop me there.” And I did that, indeed!

I met Narendrabhai several other times as well and whenever I did, each time I felt that this man’s aura is very different from the rest. Something about him makes you want to meet him over and over again. Especially his voice, it rings in your ears even after he’s gone and has a magnetic quality about it.

Once I went to Hedgewar Bhawan with my father’s message and I found him there. During the course of our conversation, he spoke to me about the minibooklets that the Sangh published and asked me to read these concise, yet laden with wisdom, booklets of 40-45 pages. These books are on the lives of great saints and leaders such Devkaranji, Shankaracharyaji etc and are a treasuretrove of knowledge. My father too used to get these booklets home and we would read them often. Well, I must share this with all my readers that these booklets shaped the way I thought, the way I reacted to situations and I can say, my cultural, moral and ideological background was established through reading intensely and devotedly about the life and teachings of these great men and women. So, I was completely in agreement with Narendrabhai’s suggestion about the importance of reading the Sangh booklets.

Then, I also recollect how Narendrabhai would visit my home frequently and I would serve him food with great love. These interactions with him and having meals together brought me close to him and I found his company very meaningful and enjoyable.

Once I met him when he was serving as the CM. It was a programme organized for Vakil Saheb and Narendrabhai was part of the event. My father was also attending that programme. We were all standing on the side, waiting for the CM to arrive. Well, when he arrived at the scene and saw me standing along with others, he hugged me and with his arm around me, we strolled together to the main venue. And then there was a flurry of questions! I was very surprised to know that he was in the know-how of every single detail of my work and my whereabouts and he asked me questions about all of that. As we parted, he said “Whenever you travel to Gandhinagar, do visit me!” And I promised to do so. It was indeed very pleasant to meet him that day and to know that he knew everything about me, even after he had become the CM. He used to stay very busy as CM and of course, no one could get busier than him after he became the PM!

I recollect one more incident that remains etched in my mind. While he was the CM, a delegation of professors went to meet him. There were about 15 to 20 academicians and my sister was one of them. As soon as he saw her, he remarked “You are Rajguru Saheb’s daughter! Where is Nachiket these days and how is he? You must tell him that his friend Narendra Modi remembers him deeply.” And of course, people were pleasantly surprised to know that CM Modi was fondly remembering an old acquaintance! So Narendrabhai has truly been a friend to me and he was always the same man, warm and generous, whether I met him as pracharak and as CM!

Nachiket Rajguru, Gujarat University Professor

COMPILED AND EDITED BY SHWETA SHARMA AND SHASHIKANT SHARMA