On
completing 40 years of meeting Rajiv Gandhi, the Avro Pilot
RAJIV
GANDHI (1944 – 1991)
P. S. Deodhar
1.
Rajiv, the person and the friend
On
21st May 1992, Rajiv Gandhi’s first death anniversary, a memorial
meeting was called by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi of about 35 to 40 professionals working
closely with Rajiv during his tenure as the Prime Minister and later, as the
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. I was sitting next to her and was the
last person to speak. It was at this instant that I suddenly realised that all
who spoke earlier had met Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister but Rajiv was my
personal friend since several years before he was to enter politics. We two had
spent time together since ever since 1974; at least twice in week in
Mumbai. He was always Rajiv to me and
Rajivji to all others. Everyone had spoken about Rajiv, the PM, covering every
facet of Rajiv as a young, honest and progressive technology savvy PM. Some, a
little closer, admired his charming personality, agile mind, quick witted
responses, his openness and his achievements. So I simply said, “Rajiv was my
close friend since 1974 and I always feel deeply concerned that he had to assume
the role of Prime Minister too soon in his political life. A life that was too
complex for his personality to handle. Unfortunately we are all unlucky to lose
him in his prime. It was too soon, cruel and violent.”
Premature responsibilities thrust on
him by his seasoned political colleagues hurt Rajiv like nothing else. People
were fed up of manipulative politicians and their sleazy tomfoolery. Rajiv was
refreshingly different with modest charm in mannarism and looks. Therefore, in
spite of his political inexperience and a kind of naivete in handling matters
of diplomatic importance, he immediately became a popular and endearing icon.
Within a few weeks, his personal image as a charming honest young man and his
refreshing presence had enabled the Indira Congress to win a landslide victory
with over 80% seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha.
But finally, and very
unfortunately, this proved to be a wasted mandate. The leadership vacuum in the
Congress obliged him to prematurely assume responsibility as the Prime Minister
after the tragic death of his mother. In many ways, as a person, he was
different and better. Rajiv believed in conciliation and not confrontation, he
depended on well-educated friends and at least till during the first couple of
years he had not build a coterie around him. He offered change but it was with
a kind of continuity to Indiraji’s rule. But slowly and surely he realised that
everybody around him was self-centred and had their own aspirations and wishes.
Roots of his post-1986-7 problems can be traced to this inadequacy. Scheming
political colleagues and bureaucratic manipulations were a little too much for
him to handle. He couldn’t cope up with Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s motivated
revolt and allegations of corruption. By then, he was not sure of anyone, not
even his friends.
After losing power Rajiv spent the
first half of 1990 analysing exactly what went wrong. On the day he became the
Leader of opposition, I met him in parliament. We talked and he was frank
enough to admit that he made mistakes but also said that he had little time to
learn how the system works. Then he began an elaborate exercise of creating
position papers on the various aspects of governance backed up with research.
Panchayati Raj, one of his unique
concepts had to yet work. Harnessing technology for growth and balanced
development was something that some of us were keen to focus on. He was slowly
getting confident that if he came back to power he would get it right. I
therefore believe that his early death deprived the country to see the new
Rajiv as its statesman-like and mature Prime Minister.
Rajiv's friendship was an accident
I first met Rajiv, the Avro Pilot,
on a rainy afternoon in Mumbai in mid-August 1974, a year before emergency. Our
common friend, Audio Equipment Professional Manubhai Desai, the owner of Cosmic
Radio, had arranged for us to meet. The reason was Electronics, the glamorous
emerging technology that was to link us together for the next 16 years. As we shook hands, his exceptionally handsome
and gentle face broke into a smile as he said ‘Hello’. I did not know then that
his winning smile was later to charm an entire nation. His smile was very rare.
It had the innocent charm, the warmth and genuineness that would win over
anyone’s confidence. It took only a couple of meetings and an early sizzler
dinner at the Touché’ Restaurant to turn our acquaintance into a long &
close friendship. While electronics and computers was its bedrock, our
friendship grew closer week after week when we met during his lay-over in Bombay as an IA Pilot.
Till the untimely death of Sanjay
in 1980, there was no place for politics, politicians, bureaucrats or the
politically inclined in Rajiv’s circle in Mumbai. All these were scrupulously
avoided. Often we would try and give a slip to the mandatory security to this
son of the most powerful person in the country. In any case, his low profile
resulted in very few recognising him as we moved together everywhere almost
incognito. We went to Lamington
Road or moved through Vileparle Bazaars for this
or that but he remained largely unnoticed. Gokul Ice-cream was often a
post-dinner luxury.
Rajiv possessed a techno savvy
inquiring mind and had an inquisitive urge for knowing more about techniques or
innovation in a wide range of modern and fast converging technologies like
micro-electronics, communication and computers. Interestingly however, Rajiv
also showed a keen interest in social issues hurting people at the grass-root
level. As he rubbed shoulders with common people while moving with us in
Mumbai, we often ended up in thinking of solutions about this and that social
issue and about life in general in India. He even willingly offered to
visit a public hospital to meet if anyone was ailing from our friend circle.
Looking at the face of our ailing friend, I believe that his charming
reassuring smile gave them immense relief!
The five years of being together
till 1980 and the several hundred days we spent together, helped Rajiv experience a different world. I wanted him to
know the value of electronics and communication technology as a tool integrate
multi-lingual, multi-racial largely illiterate India. He was a good student. He
didn’t ever smoke or drink even a beer but often sat with us in evenings as we
had a drink or two since our discussions invariably ranged on debating options
related to various social and cultural ideas. Using technology as a nation
building tool was often the theme.
He was sincere and disciplined in
everything he did. He was also a devoted husband though he charmed women as
equally as men. He had a dignified but a clean informal presence that nipped
any cheap talk in the bud. Even in those days he was the people’s prince in his
own right. The canteen boy in our factory would almost melt as he unfailingly
got a smile with a nod from Rajiv as he accepted his plate. All our friends who
often gathered at Manubhai’s place across the Santacruz Airport
were his great fans. They loved him because he hated politics as much as they
did in spite of being the son of the most powerful politician India has ever produced. Those were
the days of learning, living and loving the common man’s world that later came
in handy as his responsibilities grew to manage the country.
On reflection, I later wrote of
him;
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He looked all around
and saw everyone
uniquely engaged
in conducting their life –
some more successfully
and some others less
City bred and educated moved
In technological wonder
and sons of the soil
steering through instinct
in their natural splendour
some blissfully ignorant
rested in material opulence
Some, rich in thought,
.
|
enjoyed divine obeisance.
He watched it all
With a great delight
never had he seen
such exciting sights
like angry street fights,
men battling for rights.
He soon learnt the passionate art
of living loving and learning
giving him rare insights
into the depth of human minds
Some struggled but with a smile
living in poverty with defiance.
|
The most charming part of his
persona was not having any air in him of being a son of India’s most powerful person. Even
as a pilot, he was professional in his work but never overstepped his position
in the organisation. Leave aside benefiting in any way from his enviable
lineage and the Gandhi heritage, Rajiv did not want to use his immense shadow
power even for a good cause. During the unfortunate days of the emergency, the
father of a family friend of mine from Pune was taken away by the police due to
his RSS links. This friend was anxious to know the whereabouts of his father
after having no news of him for 10 days. I asked Rajiv whether he could ask
police officials for the arrested person’s safety. When he declined, I was a
bit upset initially but later Rajiv explained that such a thing will lead to
his involvement and use of influence. The most important thing I admired about
Rajiv was this inner strength to remain politically isolated while being very
caring about his mother.
Rajiv lived in the PM House at I, Akbar Road but had
his own living areas. He lived very simply but tastefully. Even Mrs. Gandhi's
quarters were elegantly simple. His bookshelves were lined up with books on
technology and engineering. A music system occupied most of the small living
room. Music was his main pastime in Delhi
and he liked both Western and Hindustani classical music and the film music was
also not wholly unwelcome. His other interest was Amateur Radio and also
Electronic Gizmos. All these were common bonds between us. Rajiv, Manubhai and
me were bound by our common love for electronics technology and its potential.
The first reasonably serious Home Computers were BBC Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum that appeared one after other between
1980 and the end of 81. We together bought ZX80 kit and later ZX81 and
Spectrum with 128K RAM and used them patiently. Our IT education and
fascination thus became hands on! He also indulged in serious photography.
Flying however was his passion and a preferred profession. Our common friends
in Indian Airlines vouched that he was a great pilot who also knew a lot about
what’s what in the guts of his greatest love, the aircraft.
Rajiv was a very private person. He
guarded his thoughts and controlled his expressions with ease in those days. In
his later years he picked up a wrong habit of making occasional smart remarks
from our friend Mani Shankar Aiyar. The press was quick to catch on those to
embarrass him. He was very friendly and everyone felt close to him but it took
years for me to get a shade closer to him and have a glimpse of his private
self. He had a difficult childhood and had learnt to live within himself. He
had the cultivated art of keeping a cool and peaceful front. He controlled his
anger from others but the reddening of his ear lobes gave it all away. I could
easily sense his suppressed anger and discomfort even in official meetings.
During the post emergency days, we
came much closer. His relationship
with Sanjay had deteriorated to a new low. He was deeply affected by his
mother's troubles after her political defeat in 1977. He felt that Sanjay was
responsible for her political problems. He also disliked some notable others
like Dhirendra Brahmachari around her. But he was very protective of her. I
personally think that they both came closer like never before during those
extremely trying times for her.
RAJIV – The Prime Minister
Obviously I saw less of him after
he became the Prime Minister. However he would call me occasionally for a
five-minute meeting that often stretched into an hour. We also met on Aircrafts
when he was touring. That gave us some quiet moments. I would write to him many comments and he
responded often with his opinions. Till the end, I used to address him as
Rajiv. Some times even during official meetings, I would occasionally slip and
call the PM of India
by his first name. He would smile and respond but I would curse myself for my
indiscreet behaviour. Rajiv was never ever comfortable in the company of
politicians till the end. Till he entered politics he had seen how the senior
party leaders behaved, he saw hidden behind their lachari was a cunning mind with a private agenda. We talked of it
rarely but his dislike grew more intense during post emergency days. It took
some time to persuade him to meet Sharad Pawar and hear him out before Pawar
rejoined Congress. The day he took over as the leader of the opposition and was
moving his stuff in his new room in the Parliament, I said to him that he must
be feeling free of a great burden in his new role that allows one to find
faults but not perform. In childlike simplicity, he exclaimed, “No Prabhu! I am
now afraid that all my excuses to avoid politicians are gone. I am worried
Prabhu!”
As a young Prime Minister, Rajiv
faced many unenviable challenges. He had a plethora of problems to resolve.
Political and religious violence in Punjab and the Northeast, a sagging economy
in terms of diminishing reserves and lack of adequate budget control, a
demoralized Congress (I), chronic tensions with Pakistan and Sri Lanka etc left
little time for fixing the far reaching basic inadequacies like the urban rural
divide, education and healthcare. Two long years took away time to bring
temporary calm. Intra-party politics by power brokers was hurting too. I had seen
him exasperated and tense after meeting regional party bosses.
The pace of economic reforms and
policies to stimulate private investments were slow to arrive but focus on
technology and new electronic and software policies were widely appreciated. We
were doing our job by achieving 40% annualised growth of electronics and IT
output. US multinationals and European corporations came forward with
investments in software development. We set up four IT Parks and with that Bangalore was set in
motion. A letter from Sam Pitroda in 1981 to Indiraji came to Rajiv and then me
for comments. But Mrs. Gandhi did not trust Sam's motive. I suspect that her
advisers put a fear in her mind that he was a CIA plant. Much later when Rajiv
became the PM, he agreed to create CDOT for Sam, much against the DoT
resistance. It proved to be major step towards reforms in telecommunications,
especially to link rural and urban India. After Rajiv lost power, I
was sick enough of Delhi to come back to my pavilion in Mumbai. Sam however
told me that does not work for Rajiv but for India and therefore he would
continue in Telecom Ministry as its secretary. Rajiv was not happy.
Even after V P Singh became the PM,
the bureaucratic stronghold was throttling the development with manipulations
by babus to delay reforms that would eventually reduce their hold over industry
and spell death for the licence-quota raj. The commerce Ministry under Dinesh
Singh was creating numerous roadblocks. I was fed up. Cunning bureaucrats had
taken away the powers of the Government given to the Electronics Commission
just a month prior to my taking over. I realised this within days but there was
no way to reverse it. So it became a toothless body.
After two years, I advised the
Government to dissolve the Electronics Commission as it was a waste of time to
be an advisor. As they say of advice; the wise don’t need it and the unwise
don’t heed it. Then Rajiv called me to say whether I was leaving him. He was
already in trouble and I had no heart to desert him. So I became his Advisor
still in the Rank of a Minister of State but to me it was more important to be
by his side. The change of ministerial portfolios too was proving to be
counter-productive. It was not my domain but I spoke with him against it on
couple of times. Finally Madhavrao cScindia was the only minister to last the
full term in his ministry. By early ‘87, it was clear that VP Singh had his own
agenda. As someone has written; Rajiv had good intentions, showed some progress
but was hurt due to weak implementation and poor political accumen. And then suddenly out-of-the-blue came the Bofors
Scandal that hit Rajiv and his government like a tornado.
That scandal ultimately proved to
be his cruel undoing. It hit him below the belt. He lost trust in nearly
everyone. He was no Indira to deal with such situations. The system was taking
its toll. This was severe trauma especially since he was wholly innocent. In
the process out of a misunderstanding he lost his trusted friends and the Doon school mates. In example, both Rajiv and Arun Singh
were of the same age and he joined Rajiv in 1981 just before he became a MP
from Amethi. He was also Rajiv’s neighbour in 7, Race Course Road with just a wicket gate
separating them. Indeed I feel that this was the time he mostly needed men like
Arun Singh and not sycophants and the time-servers he had around. Luckily Arun
Singh has later clarified that he parted from his close friend since he felt he
lost Rajiv’s trust.
After 18 long years and after
successive opposition Governments in power going after the Bofors payoffs
scandal, Rajiv has been finally absolved of the charges by the Supreme Court. I
however knew that from the day one. I never believed that Rajiv personally had
anything at all to do with Bofors. I had
several strong reasons but the two of them the most important. From 1975, I
found Rajiv to be ever clean when it came to moral behaviour; wine, women and
wealth.
Whenever I have got any electronic
gadget for him, he had always insisted to pay me the price. It was simply out
of his character to even tolerate personal bribes, let alone demanding them.
His friends had seen that in Mumbai. Secondly, when the matter was getting
fiercely debated in the Parliament, Rajiv had categorically stated that he and
the Swedish Prime Minister had together agreed to ensure that there were no
commissions paid. Had he any knowledge
of the pay offs, he could have coolly announced that “In such international
deals for sale of weapons, there always could be involved paying commissions
and we will investigate the matter and if anyone is found guilty we will give
severe punishment to everyone involved.” He instead insisted that there were no
commissions paid. Why would he do it if he was personally guilty?
Nothing matters anymore. We lost
Rajiv, the noble soul, a victim of dirty politics.
