The experiences bestowed by Kanchi-Mahaswami — Part 38 : My early days at Delhi
https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/ninaithu_paarkiraen_21_07_2021.php
Author : Sri S.Gurumurthy
Translator : C.Rangarajan
Pre Script :
I was born in a small village and became a known name in the country due to my stints in Delhi. Let me share some of them. Initially, I will focus on the experiences that gave me valuable lessons. To start with, the relationship between Delhi & Tamilnadu.
Delhi — TN Relation
The Delhi that I saw in 1977 and now is different. Then, its population was 48 lakhs and now it stands at 3.1 crores (more than 6 times). Whereas, our country’s population doubled during the same period. Being the capital, host to many governmental organizations & multiple employment opportunities, it was natural that it started attracting many people from different parts of the country. In the last 20–30 years, many came in droves from UP & Bihar. It changed the composition of Delhi. Next to Hindi, Punjabi-speaking people, Malayalees & Tamils were in majority. Marattis, Gujaratis & Bengalis have very minimal presence. Telugus are 1/3 & Kannadigas are 1/5 of Tamils. All South Indians are clubbed together as ‘Madrasi’. Tamils are living mostly in R.K.Puram, Karol Bagh, Sangam Vihar, Janakpuri, and other places.
We have a very good reputation in Delhi — simple, Respectful, respectful to women, God believing, Honest, and never resort to any dadagiri. When it comes to rental & jobs, we get the preference. Our people who were had helped to build such a reputation and even today, it helps us. Our people are in very good positions. Our Nadar community is dealing from the grocery store to the computer business. The 3rd richest person in India, Shiv Nadar, lives in Delhi, runs a sprawling university and also educational institutions in UP. This is just to demonstrate the relationship between Delhi & Tamils. The whole country converges there. It brings a change in our thinking and it applies to narrow-minded members of the Dravidian parties.
Small Village — Chennai — Delhi
I came to Chennai from my village in 1964 and started liking Chennai, from the beginning. Compared to another megalopolis, it can be considered to retain its village identity in pockets. Despite getting tempting offers, I did not want to this city of Tamilnadu. Tamilnadu is my Janma-Bhoomi, Karma-Bhoomi, and Moksha-Bhoomi too.
My friend and retired IAS officer, SVS Raghavan, after alighting at Chennai airport, “ Let the life go away. Life or Death will happen here, only”. Because of that, he lost many job opportunities. My mentor, Gowrikanthan after spending time with his daughter in the USA, came back to Chennai and quipped. “Dusty, squalor, This is our own Chennai”. Since 1977, I was compelled by Goenka & others to come & settle in Delhi. I refused and told them, “ I can come here any number of times but I cannot relocate to Delhi”. It repeated when I was asked to relocate to Mumbai. It affects my professional growth.
In the beginning, I had negative opinions about Delhi. I was not able to understand Delhi at all. Generally, there is a joke, “It was blowing hot in the summer (due to aandhi from Rajasthan desert) and cold in the winter (due to cold waves from the Himalayas). It does not have a separate climate as well as a unique culture on its own”. Because of the influx of many people from different parts of the country, it became much more pluralistic. I was a stranger to that environment, culture, and habits in Delhi. It is like any other city in our country but the political capital. It took some time for me to adjust to that. Let me share two of my earlier experiences.
Government office
Let me explain the event that led to a cultural shock for me. I had gone to the company law board office to represent the Indian Express in the directors nomination case. The next day, I had gone there to collect some papers during lunchtime. The office was empty. A couple of them were there and sleeping with their legs elevated on the office things.
Back in TN, in the office, during Saraswathi pooja, everyone would perform pooja to their work equipment and approach even a paper with reference. Even the Dravidian parties that would ridicule such practices had to resort to such practices eventually. I returned to the guest house soaked in sadness. I told the waiting Goenka that the case is on our side. He asked about my experience in the capital. Then, I exploded, “Ramnathji, Only, if we change the capital, our Nation will get uplifted. How can a government be run with such kind of lazy workers”? He explained to me, “ Now only you have reached here and you will get more shocks as you proceed. This is because Delhi is a power center. Not only the central government is here. We have the supreme court, military, all important organizations, big-league lawyers & IAS offices. Government is a big industry. All around does business with the government and government’s money is the chief motivator for all. Such absurdities happen in every nation’s capital. Here & there, things will change. Otherwise, it is the same everywhere. People who work here will be haughty too”. Initially, I thought the Delhites are spoiling the government and later reversed that thought too. Slowly, I understood that there are many good souls located in Delhi too. Slowly the negative thoughts about Delhi faded away.
Political Brokers
The next one is about the political brokers. Morarji’s government was dismissed and Charan Singh had come to power with the help of Indira. Goenka was supporting Morarji and Goenka was very unhappy with Charan Singh. Indira had the power to protect or dismiss Charan Singh’s government. From the beginning, everyone knew that Charan Singh’s government would collapse one day but was not sure of its longevity. There was huge political turmoil in the Nation. In a shorter time, Indira withdrew the support for Charn Singh and it collapsed. The then-president Sanjeeva reddy colluded with Indira and prevented Jagajeevanram from becoming the PM. Cho was hell-bent on preventing Indira from assuming power and exposed their conspiracy. Finally, the elections happened in Jan 1980 and Indira captured power.
I want to share a particular incident that happened just one week after Charan Singh capturing power. Goenka took me in the car to showcase the proceedings in the political circles. He further lamented, “Guru, after Indira came to power, the political landscape has changed totally. Both, she & Sanjay brought in the political broker culture. With the help of such brokers, they would resort to any methods to finish off their enemies inside and outside their party. The broking culture has spoiled the scenario completely”. Political broker Dhirendra Brahmachari was close to Indira and there were many such in the capital. Then, he listed out astrologers, industrialists, and neo-gurus and mentioned that we are going to one of them, Chandra Swami. He was close to Charan Singh and brokered the deal with Sanjay.
I asked him the reason for meeting such a person. He replied, “Guru, you are a kid in politics. I had met Chandra swami when I visited JP at the Vellore hospital in 1975. Through him, I have to catch hold of Charan Singh. Chandra Swami had invited me to meet Charan Singh”. I asked him, why me? He said, “I am preparing you for bigger things and will introduce you as my assistant. You don’t have to talk”.
At the foot of Chandra swami
I saw a strange & surprising scene, out there. Chandra Swami was of my age. He was sitting in a ceremonial chair and on the floor, Charan Singh, YB Chavan & Narasimha Rao were seated. There were approximately 25 people in the hall.
Chandra welcomed Goenka with a folded hands and invited him to come closer to him. I was asked to sit and Goenka was led by Chandra swami’s assistant. Goenka prostrated at his feet and was asked to sit next to Charan Singh. All three exchanged pleasantries and discussed for 30 minutes. Then Goenka rose, paid his Namaskar to both of them, and dragged me out of the room. He was not in a mood to talk to anybody.
Goenka said, “Guru, Chandra swami is a rogue, known for his double games and a useful animal too. He is not only close to Charan Singh but to Sanjay & Indira too. JP knows him. A scoundrel of the highest order. We cannot trust him”. All Goenka wanted was to demonstrate to Chandra swami that he was closer to him. Then, I learned the role of the political brokers in the Delhi political circle.
Then, I met Chandra swami in 1986 and he took me to President Zail Singh. The president mentioned the ill-treatment meted out to him by Rajiv Gandhi. Then I gave him some points and told him to write a letter to the PM. He had requested me to write the letter. The meeting was very important in my life. I got arrested by CBI for the same reason. The letter was published in the newspaper and again, I was raided by the CBI on the same day. Based on the photocopy of the original letter, I was arrested by the CBI and will share it on a different occasion.
Post Script: One can give full credit to Narendra Modi for wiping out the broker culture that prevailed between 1969–2014. Even his enemies cannot deny it.
