Dr. Singh, or MMS as per the acronym frequently used for him, was a rare species in public life, precisely because he was not a "politician", a respectable word which has progressively fallen into disrepute, disrepair and degradation, especially in India. His list of sterling qualities of head and heart started with his innate humility. It never left him, through the zooming trajectory which took him from being a refugee from Gah in Pakistan, reading books under streetlights, to envious educational paths at both Cambridge and Oxford, to academia in Delhi School of Economics and at prestigious institutions abroad, to foreign trade adviser with Lalit Narayan Mishra, to chief economic adviser to the government, to deputy chair of the erstwhile Planning Commission, to governor of RBI, to finance minister during the watershed years for a new economic India, and finally, to two terms as PM! MMS dedicated his life to the service of the nation, and the nation celebrated him as few others in the history of independent India. Since his public achievements are well known, let me write about my personal and anecdotal reminisces as they reflect the quality of this great man.
His humility included getting up and receiving any visitor, irrespective of rank, even as a sitting PM. He unfailingly phoned to thank me after delivering speeches where, on many occasions, he had sought my inputs and drafts. He would boost my ego by graciously adding that he was happy to ask me even at short notice because he would rarely find it necessary to alter my drafts. There was no need for him to do anything of the sort, but it came to him naturally.
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Denne historien er fra December 28, 2024-utgaven av Hindustan Times Bengaluru.
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