Issue 6 Vol I, December 31, 2005

homage

Remembering K.R.Narayanan
Tributes to a Great Teacher
S.N. Sahu

K.R.Narayanan is now a part of the national sub consciousness for he so passionately toiled for the cause of the suffering people and is a shining example of service and sacrifice! Narayanan, who fought through out his life for the dignity and well being of human beings and who used his intellect for the cause of the suppressed shall  remain for ever a source of guidance and action for all those who believe in secular and democratic  ideals and fight  to preserve it  from the onslaught of the communal forces.

Harold Laski, professor at the London School of Economics who taught Jawaharlal Nehru and also Narayanan saw the tremendous potentiality of the man after reading his paper on religious tolerance in Europe said,” If you maintain this standard you will get a first class”. When Narayanan left LSE after completing his studies and getting a first class, Professor Laski asked him, “Do you have any high contact in India”. When Narayanan replied in the negative, Prof. Laski offered to write a letter to Prime Minister Nehru introducing him and his talent. The content of the letter revealed his personality profile and the depth of vision and commitment of Narayanan which guided his policies, action and decisively shaped the course of the Republic. “He is a man of great intellect with wide social sympathies”, wrote Laski to Jawaharlal Nehru. How appropriate indeed was Laski when he described Narayanan as a man with “wide social sympathies”! Throughout his life the social sympathies of Narayanan were reflected in his diverse role as a diplomat, academic and as a public figure of eminence and ability.

I recall Italian Marxist Gramsci definition of an intellectual. He wrote that a suffering being is an intellectual. Narayanan immensely suffered as a human being went through the most difficult and agonizing times to find a meal for his living and fees for paying for his education. Out of this pain and suffering he merged triumphant and what predominated in his personality were the values of humility, reconciliation and compassion. A suffering being like Narayanan truly measured up to the highest standards of intellectual attainments and showed to our nation and the rest of the world that the dignity and poise of life comes through the toil and hardship and refinement of behaivour and serious and sensitive pursuit of studies.

As the Vice President of India he was visiting Italy to participate in the Conference organized by the Universal Academy of Cultures, which was founded by Elie Wiesel, the Nobel peace prize winner from Germany and of which Narayanan was a member, he called me and asked to get an article which would indicate the age at which children get religious, caste and other prejudices. He wanted to suggest in his speech that if we can educate children and inculcate appropriate values among them then we can remove prejudices from their minds. A man with wide social sympathies can only think from this perspective to bring about positive social change through education which Narayanan once described as the most liberating and uplifting force. His own life was one of the greatest manifestations of the way education could lead to transformation of backward social and economic condition and empowerment of ordinary people. When I gave the long article I told him that important portions had been marked by pencil and he could instead of reading the whole article could concentrate on the marked portions to save time. He gave a stern look and told, “Let me read the whole article and learn something from it”. On listening respect for him went up many folds. He read the whole article and used many points. I was surprised that such a man occupying the high office of the Vice-President wanted to read the whole article running to 70 pages and learn some thing from it. It was indeed an immensely educative experience for me.

When he was finalizing the speech I asked him if any other material was required. He then told that he has to see his class notes. I could not understand it. I asked “Sir, which class notes”? His reply completely stunned me. He said the notes he took while attending the classes in the London School of Economics in the late 1940s. I asked him, “Sir Do you still preserve those class notes”? He answered, “Yes” and added “I often refer to them whenever some interesting points are to be added in the speech”.  What a man who remained a perpetual student by referring to his class notes. I recall Rabindranath Tagore who had said that “A teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning”. Naryanan is a perpetual student and therefore a great teacher. His elevation to the position of the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru testified to his ability as a great teacher who continuously expanded the horizon of his knowledge by learning and reading.

In his speech delivered at the World Tamil Conference in January 1995 he said that some Tamil words are found in the Rig Veda. The Arya Samaj people protested against this statement and threatened to launch a movement. They argued that the Vedas are the voice of God and how Tamil words are found in them. When they wrote angry letters and accused him of committing blasphemy he called them to his residence and showed the sources in which it was described that Tamil words are found in the Vedas. He asked the members of the Arya Samaj ’Do you think God only loves only Sanskrit and does not love any other language?’ This question of Narayanan was a challenging assertion of his inclusive and broadminded outlook which is required for the full flowering personality of the individual. The complainants walked out silently in the face of the irrefutable evidence in favour of his well researched speech.

Today we are spreading the message that the AIDS does not spread through mere touch and embrace. It is lesser known that Narayanan was the first public figure in the country who shook hands with the AIDS patients. The Pioneer newspaper edited by Vinod Mehta wrote an editorial on the issue under the caption “A Message from Narayanan” and urged people to follow him to dispel the notion that by mere handshake and touch people could get this deadly scourge.

Narayanan was a great feminist and champion of the backward classes. He was the first President who suggested that candidates form among women minorities, Scheduled Castes and Tribes be considered for appointment as judges in our judiciary if they have the required merit and ability. He was again the first President who suggested for affirmative action in the private sector so that the marginalized sections of society get due representation there.   His eloquent statement that in our highways of privatisation and liberalization we must provide safe passages for the underpowered and the unemployed articulated the dumb desire of the ordinary people for their share in the national cake. These historic pronouncements constitute the powerful expression of his social sympathies which Harold Laski so abundantly found in Narayanan when he was too young. In fact Narayanan in his speech delivered in the Kashmir University on the theme “Secularism in a Religious Society” wrote that social modernization would lead to removal of social prejudices and creation of a secular State and society. How refreshing it is indeed to listen to the idea of social moderniastion when people and leaders day in day out only talk about economic and industrial modernization giving little importance to modernization of our outlook and mindset. Social modernization according to Narayanan meant liberlisation of outlook and attitude and cultivation of the spirit of inquiry and open mind free from prejudices and rigidities of approach. In the age of  privatiastion and globalisation when there is alarming decline of social sympathies it is important to delve deep in to Narayanan’s philosophy to address the challenges of our time and making India socially progressive, providing people with equal opportunities and empowering ordinary people.

[Sahu is former Press Secretary to President Narayanan and now serving as Director in the Prime Minister’s Office.]