When Manmohan Singh addressed RC Anna Nagar
Following the passing away of one of the most decent, gentlest and non-politician-like politicians, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a post doing the rounds on social media caught my attention, as it was related to him and Rotary. But, to my surprise, it was being passed around on the Whatsapp groups of Freemasons. As my husband happens to be one, he showed it me.
It told a remarkable story… about this former RBI governor coming down to Chennai, without any fuss or fluster, even paying for his own airfare after refusing to let the Rotarians book his air ticket, to address members of the Rotary Club of Anna Nagar and accept the For the Sake of Honour Award from it, on June 18, 1996.
In his post titled ‘Rest well gentle Sardar’, the then president of the Rotary Club of Anna Nagar G K Selvarajan recalls that reading about the former Prime Minister’s passing away, his mind went back to the April of 1996, when Manmohan Singh “had laid down his office as the most successful finance minister of India, having brought the country back from economic brink and disaster.”
As always, his club was on the lookout for distinguished persons to address them and one of his friends in Delhi, a very senior bureaucrat, suggested why not invite the former finance minister and present him the For the Sake of Honour Award. Later, speaking to Rotary News, Selvarajan said that this bureaucrat had attended one of the iconic projects of his club — Meals on Wheels — that he had started during his year as club president, “along with so many other projects.”
Through the Meals on Wheels project, “every weekend we — Rotarians and Anns — would take home-cooked meals to various homes of the underprivileged in the city, such as orphanages, old age homes, juvenile homes etc. I started it and it became a big hit and was later taken up as a district project by Krishnan Chari when he became district governor (1997–98). My bureaucratic friend had visited the Meals on Wheels project and seen our other work, (other projects he started were a geriatric centre, Talk your way to Malaysia, etc) and was very impressed by the service done by the club members. He suggested I should invite Dr Singh,” recalls Selvarajan, who is a lawyer by profession.
Even though rather sceptical that a distinguished person like Manmohan Singh who had ushered in economic reforms and liberalised the Indian economy, would accept an invite to address a mere Rotary club in Chennai, Selvarajan made the call. To his utter surprise, the distinguished economist spoke to him for about 10 minutes, asked about the service projects his Rotary club did, and after a pause, said ‘Yes’!
But he turned down the offer to fly him down, came at his own expense, and at the airport, though a number of expensive luxury cars of Rotarians were waiting for him, “he chose to travel with me in my Honda City!”
Once the news spread that the former FM was in town, “topmost businessmen from Chennai, the Murugappa group, TVS, Amalgamations, and other top industrialists, as also journalists, kept calling for an interview with him. But he told all of them that Mr Selvarajan, the club president, is the host, and my itinerary will only be decided by him.”
The Rotarian was flabbergasted to get calls from the big business tycoons and media barons in the city asking for any time slot to meet the great man. Ultimately, with Manmohan’s consent, it was decided that a press conference, which would be attended by top businessmen in the city, would be organised at The Hindu newspaper’s office. At this event, with great ease the former FM handled questions relating to national and international economics, and explained where the economic reforms he had ushered in during the previous five years would propel the Indian economy.
When news spread that the former FM was in town, topmost businessmen and industrialists from Chennai, as also journalists, kept calling for an interview with him. But he told all of them that Mr Selvarajan, the club president, is the host, and my itinerary will only be decided by him.
Recalling that meet, Selvarajan says, “I was amazed at the love, respect and goodwill Dr Singh commanded among the who’s who of Chennai. It was a treat to watch and hear the top icons vying to rub shoulders with this global star. The next day all the leading newspapers exhaustively covered his visit to the city (including his club event) along with pictures. Our club members were thrilled as he had breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner with us, and willingly joined us in the photo sessions. The Rotary Anns were thrilled to be photographed with him.”
Through the day, “he insisted that he will travel only with me in my car; the hall at the Ambassador Pallava Hotel where our meeting was held, was packed, not only with our members and Anns, but the who’s who of Chennai, perhaps South India too.”
During his speech, which he acknowledged was his first ever to a Rotary club, Manmohan dwelt on his years as FM and said that decentralisation, empowerment, correct utilisation of funds and changing the mindset of the people were the key areas he had focused on while ushering in the economic reforms. “At the end of the day, I am immensely satisfied because my successors — the shortlived BJP government as well as the United Front government — have followed the policy of liberalisation even though many of these parties had opposed it earlier.”
Comparing the performance of the Indian economy with that of China, South Korea and Taiwan, he said, “The per capita income of South Korea is $10,000, whereas the figure for India is a mere $370. This is saddening because India was supposed to be a developing nation even in 1963, when these nations were nowhere in the picture.”
Underlining the rationale behind the reforms during his five-year term as FM, he said India had to grow faster economically if it was to realise its full potential and shape the destiny of South and Southeast Asia. He expressed anguish that during the previous five years, attempts had been made by some people to divert attention from the economic reforms and derail them. He explained that by seeking to increase foreign industrial investment by liberalising the economy, his objective was to improve management and technological capabilities. But this was derided as a move that would result in loss of India’s economic sovereignty. His efforts to create a competitive environment by reducing tariff barriers and interior barriers, like industrial licensing, were criticised as the route to the deindustrialisation of India. “My attempt to restructure public sector units and push them to operate in a market system and pay heed to market signals by disinvestment was flayed as an anti-public sector policy,” he told the Rotarians.
But at the end of the day, his successors pressing on with the economic reforms he had introduced, had vindicated his policies, and his “bitter critics in Parliament, who had opposed my stance that public sector units should be run efficiently, have now realised that this is the only way we can realise India’s vast potential.”
He also stressed that the focus of the people of India has to be on “nation-building and not divisive issues like caste, religion and region. If we do not wake up now, our marginalisation in world polity will become a reality,” he said.
“His speech was not only excellent and full of nobility and wisdom, there was no bragging and he was full of humility. The audience gave him a standing ovation,” says Selvarajan.
At the airport, he never allowed me to carry his suitcase, gently smiling and saying that he was young enough to carry it himself.
He still remembers, after almost 30 years, how when he went to the airport to drop him the next morning, “he never allowed me to carry his suitcase, gently smiling and saying that he was young enough to carry it himself. At the airport, we were welcomed by the top officials of the Airport Authority but he never allowed anyone to assist him. He insisted on standing in the long queue to check in. I felt as though the whole airport was glittering by his charismatic presence,” says Selvarajan, who unfortunately left Rotary a few years ago, after being a Rotarian for over 26 years. He is now elected the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India, the highest rank in Freemasonry in India.
In the check-in queue, a little boy, barely 9, “stared at him for a while and then asked, ‘Are you Manmohan Singh uncle?’ His father tried to hush his son for being disrespectful by calling him by name. The renowned economist gave a broad smile, patted the boy’s cheek and politely answered ‘yes’, said he had come to attend a meeting in Chennai. He then asked the boy’s name, where he was studying, etc. The short conversation between them was beyond age, status and all barriers. The scene was so poetic. After seeing him off, I returned profusely thanking God for blessing me with an entire day with not only a highly respected and admired person, but one of the finest human beings I have ever met, who was an embodiment of all the virtues embedded in our (Masonic) rituals.”
Selvarajan got a beautiful ‘thank you’ note from Manmohan Singh after he reached Delhi “in his own handwriting, which I cherished for a long time; June 18, 1996, remains one of the most memorable days of my life.”
