THE OUTSIDER IS GONE
DDT deeply mourns the death of P.V. Narasimha Rao
THE man who was deeply inside the centre-stage of Indian politics was really an outsider who could look inside and experience and express stoically. The man who took India out of financial disaster was a total outsider to the complexities of fiscal management of the country. Though he had held every major portfolio in the Central Cabinet like, home, defence, HRD, external affairs, Finance was obviously not his forte, but he will be remembered for his role as the man who changed the fiscal shape of India. Being a Chanakya, he left the job to an expert like the present Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the present FM, Mr Chidambaram and stood by them like a rock giving all the political support. Dr Singh going on to become the Prime Minister is perhaps the greatest tribute to the man's vision.
A great scholar, multi-linguist, author and deeply into politics. He could manage all these hard roles with ease. The man who could convert his silence into an art form would use one word where three were absolutely needed. In spite of holding huge data in his head, the man had terrific memory. I was witness to a meeting of his, when while walking into the hall, he noticed an old professor sitting in the last row. He called out to him, saying, "Professor, why are you so back, please come to the front row." (incidentally I had got this professor invited to the excise day celebrations in my office. I requested one of our best protocol officers to pick up the professor and bring him for the function. The protocol officer was a very popular Inspector and would often escort IRS, IPS and IAS officers in uniform. I asked this Inspector to go in uniform to the professor. He refused. "What ?, Uniform for a mere professor?" )