The experiences bestowed by Kanchi-Mahaswami — Part 39: Lessons offered by the three essays
https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/ninaithu_paarkiraen_28_07_2021.php
Author : Sri S.Gurumurthy
Translator : C.Rangarajan
After the Janata party came to power in 1977, I was frequenting Delhi & Mumbai, every week. It continued for 35 years, until 2016. After becoming the editor of the Thuglaq magazine the travel got reduced by half. Now, due to corona, the travel has stopped completely. My travelogue can become a separate story by itself.
Cho’s caller tune charade
I was not in control of my travels. Sometimes, I would get diverted from one destination to another in the airport also. On the same day, I had done round trips, Chennai — Delhi — Mumbai — Delhi. I would get booked in different flights at the same time and had the strange experience of getting calls at multiple airport counters. Cho would tease me with a caller tune recorded in his voice, “ Mr.Gurumurthy, final call for Jet airways Mumbai; Mr.Gurumurthy, final call for Indian Airlines Delhi; Mr.Gurumurthy, final call for Spicejet Bangalore”. He had shared this with my wife and others. Till he died, he was having the caller tune in his phone.
Do play with Mulgaonkar’s dog
Because of my frequent travels to Delhi, I became a quasi-resident of Delhi. Post the formation of the Janata government in 1977, Goenka & me would be in Delhi most of the time. Together, we would go to other places too. I was staying at Delhi express guest house along with him. It was a political center with lots of action. From the morning till night, opposition leaders, famous personalities, Businessmen, Journalists and many other would converge there. It helped me to expand my network, slowly.
My role as advisor to the Indian Express group continued to change. Goenka continued to open up because of our proximity. He was sharing his rich experiences in a very casual manner. He had started taking my opinion on political matters related to the group, issues with his editors, and others. He had sent me as his representative to talk to people. He would ask me to sit next to him when he was getting visitors from different areas. There was a standard practice. He would receive his editorial team — Mulgaonkar, Kuldeep Nayyar, Ajit Bhattacharjee, Prabhas Joshi, and Arun Shourie (later), eat lunch, and discuss the happenings in the country. In that meeting, they would decide the important events that need to be focussed on.
When Goenka had invited me to those meetings, eyebrows were raised. They had difficulty in accepting a junior like me. Slowly, I started getting approval from them. It was a unique opportunity. Goenka would take me to important people’s houses and would train me on how to behave with them. For example, “Guru, If you go to Mulgaonkar’s house, don’t miss out on the opportunity to play with his dog. Both the Mulgaonkar’s like others to pamper their pet”. My acceptance in that exclusive coterie was due to the importance given to me by Goenka. The experiences I got in 1–2 years would take 20–30 years for an average joe.
Initially, I felt proud of those opportunities and later realized that they were experiences that would bestow wisdom to me. My role changed from Indian Express advisor to Goenka’s advisor. His mental peace that ushered in 1977 was shortened by two tragedies in 1979. One was the demise of his son B.D.Goenka and the other was the fall of the Janata government. Then, I became essential in his life. He told me to occupy his son’s room in the guest house and that sent a signal to all.
Multiple setbacks
After the twin tragedy, in the same year, JP lost his life. Despite the multiple setbacks, he was proceeding steadily. Charan Singh backstabbed the Janata government and joined hands with Indira. Further, he was stabbed in the back by Indira, when he had sought her support for his government (Our intellectuals started praising Indira’s lowly act as a politically savvy one). For six months, Charan Singh continued to be the PM and did not seek the vote of confidence in the Loksabha. Janata’s party was divided into two — one was headed by Chandrasekhar and the other was by Charan Singh. It further confirmed that Indira would secure the majority in the 1980 elections.
Three Essays
During that period, after studying the country’s position, Goenka had decided to oppose Indira’s return to power in three political essays. Some of his friends had advised him not to use his name due to the fear of vendetta from Indira. But he replied strongly, “ I was born in Nepal and came empty-handed to Chennai. I don’t mind going back, empty-handed”. He would repeat this continuously and vehemently committed to writing the truth. I saw his tenacity and temerity from close quarters. In the later stages, It motivated me, when I faced problems.
“Right to Express” does not continue to survive on its own or because of the legal provisions in the constitution. It goes hand-in-hand with the ability of the person to face the perilous circumstances in their life. Then only, such an opinion will get the respect of the people. When I compare the position of Goenka with the sob-kings/queens of the present generation, who would lament at the drop of the hat ( about the loss of freedom to express), it would bring in a chuckle in my face. It is a sad truth that in the present times, we do not have such a strong personality as Goenka at the National level.
After the decision to write three essays then he had started consulting with his editors, friends, etc. He had tasked me to collect the background info for the essays. Think of the research that went into the preparation to write the essays at such a crucial juncture. I understood the importance of brevity. I went through those essays again and shared the essence of them.
What was said then stand relevant now also
If you read them then you would understand the boldness required to write those essays.
- Central issue: He accused the Congress govt of spoiling JP’s kidneys with the wrong line of treatment. He accused Indira as an authoritarian and mentioned her desire to return to power. Like 1977, the elections in 1980 would be a fight between authoritarianism and democracy
- Janatha’s handicaps & performance: He elaborated the role of selfish Charan Singh, Madhu Limaye, George Fernandes & Biju Patnaik in paralyzing the Janata government.
- Real communalists: In the last 30 years, two words in the political lexicon — Secularism & Communalism were mindlessly twisted. Those who were accusing the others as communalists did not do anything for the minorities and retorted to fear-mongering among them. He also explained his help to correct the wrong notion of JP about the RSS & Jana Sangh and how they helped in protecting JP in the struggle at Bihar. Finally, it made JP say, “ If RSS & Jana Sangh are fascists then I am also a fascist”.
Goenka also wrote on how Jana Sangh lost its identity by fully merging with the Janata party, whereas the socialists & Charan Singh’s Lok dal retained their identity and worked against the ethos of the Janata government. He appreciated the RSS for not losing its balance. In the end, he had requested the public to support and help in the formation of a government under the leadership of Jagajivanram and defeat Indira.
He said that pseudo-secularism, biased communalism, slander against RSS- Jana Sangh would help in building a vote bank. It remains the same, even today also. He knew Indira’s return to power and that did not prevent him from writing the essays. It is a show of extraordinary courage. Goenka & Cho were the two legends of the press, who were fearless in expressing their views without any dilution. The three essays had appeared on 21st, 22nd & 23rd Nov 1979 and need to be etched in golden letters in the annals of Media history.
Indira had a landslide victory in the elections in 1980. After the return to power, she had dismissed many state governments including MGR’s in TN. State elections were conducted in March 1980. MGR returned to power and the Congress party captured the power in few other states. Upon her return, it was rumored that she had handed over the reins to her son, Sanjay. He waged a war on the Indian Express and had ordered to strip off their land & destroy their office. Goenka gave me the assignment of opposing those moves.
Post Script: Do you know, who was Sanjay’s right hand, who took action against us? It was Jagmohan, the then Lt. Governor of Delhi. Later, he reformed himself, joined BJP, and became a minister in Vajpayee’s government.
