Dr Manmohan Singh, RIP

emissary he had deployed. Although sceptical, I bounded off to North Block and was ushered in. It was my first official meeting with the FM. I conveyed the request, not a direction, of the prime minister. Dr Singh was puzzled — I could see that on his face — by the message or, perhaps, the messenger. He listened politely and told me that the second step had already been taken within minutes of the markets opening at 10 am.

The story of how Dr Singh "spoke" to Dr C. Rangarajan, RBI deputy governor, and the latter's famous words "I have jumped", are now part of the folklore surrounding the devaluation. That single act stamped Dr Singh — the accidental finance minister — as a determined finance minister with nerves of steel to do what he thought was the right thing to do.