Nerves of steel

I have known Jaswant Singh for nearly 30 years — almost all the time since he had been an important pillar of the Bharatiya Janata Party. We hit it off from the first day we met and continued meeting each other on and off in our respective homes. He was not the stereotype of the image I had nurtured in my mind of other members of his party. He was not a khaki- knickerwala in white shirt, black cap and gym shoes wielding a lathi, as ordained by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He is more conscious of his Rajput lineage than of being a Hindu, more an English country gentleman than a desi bhai. He enjoys having vintage Scotch in the evenings and makes no secret of his contempt for prohibitionists. He is the epitome of a pucca brown sahib.

I had occasion to see him in action as a member of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. He took his job seriously. He had a staff to do research on topics raised in the question hour and on bills being debated. I never saw him while away his time in gupshup and coffee in the Central Hall, as most others members of parliament did and still do. Jaswant Singh being among the ablest and the most conscientious of MPs, I was not the least bit surprised when the BJP came to power and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee chose him as his foreign and finance minister. He had neither time nor patience to nurture his constituency. When he lost his Lok Sabha general election, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha because he was trusted and indisputable. His crowning moment was exchanging jihadi terrorists with over 150 Indian passengers travelling by Indian Airlines held as hostages by terrorists at Kandahar airport. Whether or not it was a wise decision is debatable but at that time it was the unanimous decision of the cabinet to do so. The only one who undertook to carry out the dangerous mission was Jaswant Singh. He showed nerves of steel, flying out with dangerous criminals to hostile territory and bringing back his countrymen and women safely home. That was the Rajput in him.

Jaswant’s book on Jinnah reflects his personality. He must have known that it would get many of his party members’ hackles up. He could not give a khota naya paisa for their reaction. But expelling him without having read his book was a foolish thing to do. As for Narendra Modi banning the book in Gujarat, the less said the better. It smacks of fascism and bigotry. You can be sure there will be more demand for the book in Gujarat than in other states of India. It is men of the Modi mentality who have given BJP a bad name. With a friend like him who needs enemies? I am convinced that by expelling him, the BJP has lost more than just Jaswant Singh.

Too late in life

I had met Jatin Das at exhibitions of his paintings. Since he was a good, innovative artist, I assumed he must be Bengali. His first wife, Varsha, was a colleague of my daughter, Mala. Their daughter, Nandita, went to the same school as my granddaughter. I had never set my eyes on her but seen her pictures in the newspapers. She looked like a beautiful Bengali girl, but I was wrong. Jatin Das is not Bengali but an Oriya from Baripada. Varsha’s mother is a Gujarati from Mumbai. So Nandita is half-Oriya, half-Gujarati, but having been born, brought up and educated in Delhi, is really a Dilliwali.

One evening, the ghazal singer, Deepmala Mohan, brought her over to meet me. I was bowled over by her looks and unpretentiousness. She was coy about her private life but eager to tell me about her films, particularly Firaq, which had earned her worldwide acclaim. It is about the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002. It was shown in Pakistani cinemas and audiences were amazed that an Indian could so boldly expose the country’s soft underbelly to ridicule. Needless to say, it also brought her a lot of hate mail from Hindu fundamentalists. She took it as a double victory. I looked through all the material on her on the internet and invited her for a second meeting. She came, but was evidently uneasy with the questions I put to her. I am determined to write a profile on her, though it may not be to her liking.

Generous party

There is not a greater believer in democracy/ Than the BJP/ How I wish the Congress and the communists had half as much freedom of expression/ And do what BJP has done./ Jaswant Singh is the latest beneficiary/ Of the party’s free-wheeling generosity/ Jinnah is indeed an anathema to the BJP/ For, he is venomously responsible for the partition of this country./ But Advani can ‘pay respectful homage to the great man’/ And praise Mohammad Ali/ And still remain the top leader of the party/ In spite of this generosity, if the ex major suffered expulsion/ It is because he did not do what if he were in the shaakha he would have done.

(Courtesy: Kuldip Salil, Delhi)