Being the
Principal of very visible schools, I have had the opportunity of meeting
many celebrities .Some of them come across as very ordinary ,and some of them
come across as extraordinary .I am however convinced that looks can be very
deceptive.There are some qualities that don’t get reflected in one or two
meetings .There are some qualities that can be seen only from close up over a
long period of time .Determination,fearlessness,honesty ,tenacity
,persistence,networking skills, sometimes take longer to be understood than
lets say the skills of talking and sense of humour which are instantly
visible .So it is quite an effort to attempt to come to a conclusion about the
nature of a person in one meeting .And if the person happens to be of a quiet
disposition and slightly introvertish ,then the task gets even more difficult
.One such person I met once, and for a fairly long time was Sonia Gandhi .And
like so many incidents in my life it happened quite suddenly .
A convoy of white
Ambassador cars pulled up outside my office at DPS ,Jagdishpur, one day ,and
before very long a very amiable DIG, looking after Sonia Gandhis security was
in my office with a couple of other officers .He told me that Mrs Gandhi was
likely to land in her chopper in the school football field and whether he
could have a look at it .He also told me that our school was one of the options
they were exploring, and that she might land somewhere else.But if she landed
,then she was likely to have a wash and maybe a cup of tea ‘Are you married’ he
asked ,much to my surprise .I told him that I was . ‘Then maybe your wife can
join you in your office and have tea with Mrs Gandhi’,he quipped.I told him
that it would be a great pleasure ,and that I also had a son who would love to
meet her .I was grabbing the hand when he was offering a finger.!!He said
that he did not want to crowd the room ,but that my son could come to the
field and have a close look at her .He however wanted the bathroom to be
sanitized ,and also wanted to have a look at the utensils in which the tea was
to be made ‘We will give you the water and the tea leaves .’He also said
that Mrs Gandhi normally liked chocolate biscuits and Bourbon chocolate
biscuits would be fine .And as a parting shot he said ‘Rahul ji will be there
as well’.Ah ha ,this was some occasion to cherish .Rahul has always had this
appeal about him which makes people swoon .He is a terrific looking guy
–I had seen his photographs and also seen him on television ,though I had never
met him .
We kept our fingers
crossed that the chopper would land on our school fields .It was mid afternoon
and I still remember that it was a cloudy day with intermittent showers .The
school had given over for the day and there were security men all over
the place .Sangeeta and me kept giving final touches to the room –a photograph
to be aligned here ,a memento on the table to be shifted there ,the calendars
page reflecting the correct month,dust to be wiped off the window sill,etc
.Suddenly there was a lot of noise .Some cars drove into the school .They
carried in them some influential politicians .One of them was Pramod Tiwari and
he came with about a dozen of his followers .There was also Avtaar Singh
Bhadana ,the Gujjar leader who subsequently became more than just a
acquaintance of mine .Their arrival coincided with the drone of the helicopters
.Suddenly ,Verma appeared in my office almost running and said ‘Sir ,Madam has
arrived .We would like you to receive her’. Hurriedly we walked the corridors
that led to the field .There were two choppers and they landed one after the
other .Quite interestingly I had never seen a chopper from so close up .It is
really huge –one cant imagine it to be that big when one sees it in the
skies .From the first one alighted some politicians –Sushil Shinde who later
became the CM of Maharashra was one of them-and some members of the press
,including the very snooty Rajive Shukla who at that time was a journalist .He
kept fiddling with some sim cards for the rare mobile phone those days –I can
understand now what he was doing .He was replacing the sim that he must
have been using in Delhi with one that was more compatible
with the the tarrif in the Lucknow region. There were some journalists
from the India Today group, as could be made out from the accreditation
cards round their necks .They stood for sometime with us .It took Sonia Gandhi
and Rahul about 15 minutes to alight from the choppers .The pilot of the
chopper walked behind them .As I greeted Mrs Gandhi and Rahul,he whispered (the
pilot) ‘Are you Kulu Kain from Clement Town’.I was pleasantly surprised ,and
nodded my head in agreement .He was Rupi Mahal ,my childhood friend from the
same locality in which we lived in Dehradun .It had been nearly 40 years since
we had met.He had read my name on the card I was wearing round my neck .We
hugged each other ,and he advised me to be with Sonia Gandhi .We would meet
subsequently ,he said .He was flying her in a Pawan Hans Helicopter for which
he worked .
Like her mother in law
,Sonia walks very briskly –and talks very less .She asked me as to how long I
had been in Jagdishpur as the Principal of the school .She asked Sangeeta as to
how she liked the place .We told her that we had a son who was keen to meet her
.All this while Rahul sauntered along with her . When the psychophants around
him shouted slogans ,he was visibly embarrassed,and told them to avoid it
‘Hum maidaan mein nahin ,school me hain’, he counseled .One cant express in
words how good he looks .The complexion is so impeccable ,and in the
words of a urdu poet ,if he were to swallow paan ,u would see it go down his
throat .Gods gift to the world as far as looks are concerned .
Just at the end of the
corridor ,Pratique ,my son was waiting to catch a glimpse of the Gandhis .I
told them about him .Both of them singled him out and beckoned him .As he came
forward ,Mrs Gandhi shook his hand and ruffled his hair .The security did not
want her to stop –she was quickly ushered into the Principals room .
I sat there with both
of them ,as Sangeeta supervised the making of the tea in the adjoining
kitchenette.We had brought our tea set from home –it was a beautiful one ,dark
brown in colour .We served tea to the Gandhis –along with Bourbon biscuits
.Rahul used the toilet to wash up .He was wearing a kurta –pyjama with white
sneakers .His kurta was soiled and so were his pyjamas .It was obvious that he
had been to somewhere where there had been a moderate rainfall .Mud does not
stick otherwise .As he came out from the bathroom ,Sangeeta enquired whether
the bathroom was clean .With a lovely smile ,which accentuated both his dimples
,he said ‘Yes ,but now it is dirty’ pointing to his shoes and clothes .!!I even
addressed him as Rahul when I asked him ‘How is it in politics Rahul’, to which
he replied ‘Theek Hai .Interesting’.I told him we needed more people like him
in politics .He obliged me with a smile –his dimples are so compellingly
cute..!!
Sonia Gandhi got up to
look at some paintings that adorned the walls .The politicians and the press
corps sat in the adjoining room .Then someone came in and told her that
everything was ready .He was carrying a walkie talkie .She thanked us profusely
–as did Rahul .In a shortwhile ,she had got into a car and was off to address a
rally in some small village around Jagdishpur .She was supposed to return
after about 4 hours .It gave me time to catch up with Rupi ,who was kind enough
to take Pratique to the Helicopter and show him the insides .God knows whether
Mrs Gandhi will manage to unite the country –but she surely managed to reunite
two age old friends .As it happened Rupi got a message to take off from our
school grounds to some destination from where he was to pick up the two Gandhis
up .I think it is a part of the security drill to keep changing venues till the
last moment to put off people who might be trailing your predictable movement
.They never came back .
I have followed hers
and Rahuls career vey closely over the last decade or so .Sangeeta and me were
struck by her innate innocence and pleasant demeanour .There were no aloofness
in her personality that go with power.She appeared to be very grounded .We
wondered why she was in politics .Did she really need the power to prove
anything ?Why shouldn’t someone like her just relax and live life without
getting into its most complex area –politics .She appeared impeccably clean and
a prospective misfit –a square peg in a round hole .The sharks would eat her
and her son up .But then as I said –looks can be deceptive .I think ,I met a
extraordinary human being who looked very ordinary .Just like Mohinder Amarnaths
bowling looked to the West Indies ,who took him lightly because he appeared
like a schoolboy bowling to the legends .But he was able to pin them down and
help India win the World Cup in 1983 .Sonia Gandhi might just do that –win the
many battles that appear stacked against our nation .!!
