Portrait of a hero, profile in simplicity

MY HERO: Manohar Parrikar

By Sumeet Naik

Voting for the first time when you enter the threshold of 18 comes with a strange blend of excitement and confusion. The excitement often clouds conventional wisdom about whom to ink for. Mercifully, that predicament never confronted me as a first-time voter in 1994. My faculties were firmly in place as I held the ballot paper for the first time in my hand. The conspicuity of the name MANOHAR GOPALKRISHNA PRABHU PARRIKAR was so perfectly compatible with my exactitude that it was almost as if here was a man who didn’t need the prop of his party symbol. A couple of decades down the line I stood vindicated that the man I had voted for became the true leader of masses while being a face in that sea of humanity. I stamped my vote against a box on that name. If anything, it was the blob of ink on my index finger was beginning of a loyalty towards someone who went on to become a part of national consciousness.

I must state this preamble for one strong reason. I was born into a family of journalists who were possessive about the objectivity of their profession unlike the fraternity today that makes no bones about their political affiliations. As someone who took part in booth committee meetings and occasionally attending RSS shakhas, I was strictly warned not to disclose my personal affiliations.

Truth, however, finds its way out. One day, a local Marathi newspaper carried a photograph on its front page, showing Manohar Parrikar campaigning for Assembly elections in his constituency of Panjim, with two young lads carrying huge BJP flags alongside the man himself. It was considered nothing short of professional sacrilege as my father who then worked in a sister concern English newspaper as a senior photographer spotted that one of the two boys marching merrily with the party flag in step with Parrikar was yours truly. I was undeterred as my line of defence was unimpeachable. I stood my ground that it was for a person I was all out in the open and not for any particular political party or outfit. It was hero worship with a liberal sprinkling of respect for a man continued to be my hero for reasons more than many.

In 1998 I relocated to Mumbai in pursuance of my professional pursuits and joined The Free Press Journal as a trainee sub-editor. The years that passed were roller coaster as I negotiated professional ferment working with an assorted newspaper groups. The one thing that never changed during all this tumult was my love and admiration for this original common man whose simplicity was his sophistication. It only grew unabashed as I followed the political odyssey of an utterly unassuming leader who never wore his IIT merit on his sleeve but harnessed it for the country. As a political leader he was integrity personified and as a man he could well have been your family member. How the two seamlessly merged!
  

Parrikar at Mumbai event. (L-R) Me,
Menino Peres and Dayanand Kamath

Stories of his no-nonsense traits had already become part of folklore. I particularly recall this one. In one of his earlier stints as Goa’s Chief Minister he was in Mumbai for an aerial photography book launch at a restaurant in Dadar. Two of my colleagues -- Ghanashyam Bhadekar and Dayanand Kamath requested me to take them for the event and introduce them to him. Just before the event was to unfold, to everyone’s surprise, Parrikar noticed me sitting amidst bunch of reporters and waving out towards me. “Kaso Asa Re”, (Konkani for how are you) he asked me loud enough for everyone to hear. That personal warmth made it clear that we shared a different bonding. Mind you, it was not just a friendly banter but an honest affection that went far beyond the realms of professional calling. My professional integrity and neutrality saw me writing some articles and news stories criticizing him or his government. He never harbored any grudge   and let me do my bidding, leaving it to my discretion.

The book launch event was a revelation of sorts to all those present. After the event Parrikar asked me to bring my colleagues along to join him for dinner. Accompanied by an official from Goa Information Department, Menino Peres, whom I knew very well, we partook of a hearty dinner. Just when we were about to get up from the table, Parrikar noticed an individual dropping a used tissue on the floor. Before any of us could realize what was happening, Parrikar took few quick steps forward, picked up the tissue and threw into a nearest bin.

Parrikar was unruffled but I was embarrassed no ends to see the chief minister of my state doing what he did in public glare. My anguish got the better of me and I told him it wasn’t particularly in tune with his stature. His riposte was typical of him. “I am a civilized citizen first and Chief Minster later. I hope we all follow our civic responsibilities irrespective of who and which position one holds”, said Parrikar looking at all four of us pointedly. That cryptic response turned our embarrassment into pride and respect.

Even as I continued to embark on my journalistic journey in Mumbai, way back in Goa, my hero was now not mine alone. My younger brother Sushant who had followed in my father’s footsteps as a press photographer too had developed a very strong bond with Parrikar. True to his genial nature, whenever he would spot Sushant walking down the Altinho hillock (which also happens to the destination for CM’s official residence) he would stop his convoy and ask Sushant to get in his car to be dropped wherever he was headed. This was not just because of personal connection but the gesture of a leader to whom conscience came first. I cannot recollect any top government official showing such a concern even once, let alone the chief minister of any State.

My brother Sushant with Parrikar at our residence. 

Part because of his professional commitments and part also for Parrikar’s handsome, evocative face, Sushant clicked innumerable pictures of his in different moods and poses. Some of the shots were so candid that Parrikar requested Sushant to lend him a copy or two. Sushant was only too happy to oblige. When Sushant passed away at just 25 in a road accident, Parrikar treated it as his personal loss. He made it a point to attend all functions organized in Sushant’s memory. It was a measure of his concern that once just a day before he had taken over the oath as the Chief Minister, the very next day his first official function was the one organized in the memory of Sushant. 

My mother Sushama Naik offering sweets to Parrikar,
while my father Sunil Naik sports a smile.

With the passage of time, I was witness to the changes that came along his political surroundings, but as a person he remained quintessentially the same – simple, warm, self effacing, down to earth and accessible. Be it visiting a small restaurant for a cup of tea or simply hopping upon the back of one’s bike to visit his constituency, he was truly the face of the multitudes. He would feel suffocated with the security cover and would be his normal self in the midst of people.

Parrikar as Defence Minister interacting with Panaji DD officials.

After he became the defence minister, I once met him when he visited the Panjim Doordarshan Kendra. Seeing me among those present to welcome him at the gate, he said, “I came to know you are planning to be back in Goa. Good, if you are back. Let’s see when I get a chance to be back again.” After few group photographs, he went on to record live phone-in-show and I left for Mumbai very next day. By a strange coincidence, on March, 2017 Parrikar returned as Goa’s Chief Minister while a little later in May, I too returned to my roots. I am inclined to think that it was well ordained.

In February 2018, when Parrikar was detected with pancreatic cancer I genuinely wanted my hero to rest. As one who had publicly stated that once your health starts giving away, one should not stick to the corridors of power. As days turned into months, public criticism grew louder and stronger. At times, I wrestled with the feeling that I must tell him to hang his boots and retire for physical and mental rest.

As I saw him walk into the assembly to present interim budget and later at the inauguration of Atal Setu, I could see my hero diminishing in body but not in spirit. When he asked the people gathered at the Atal Setu, “How is the Josh?” he came across as a leader who despite all odds was trying to lift the spirits of those around him. As a Karmayogi, he was destined to serve the masses till his last breath. He did it with the aplomb and characteristic that bore the stamp of his ebullient personality. Now that he has left us, I don’t see any rationale in sitting on a judgment whether it was a political compulsion or his last efforts to maintain stability in the state.

It was difficult to reconcile to the thought that he was still and resting, wrapped in a tricolor. That just couldn’t be MANOHAR GOPALKRISHNA PRABHU PARRIKAR. As I watch him go beyond the mortal world, the only question that comes to my mind: Who took away my hero….Pancreatic ailment or political uncertainty?

IT'S NOT OVER YET: One day we shall meet again.