For the first time in my life I heard the name of Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat from my father's mouth. Those were the summer days of 1977, and the heat wave had shook the entire atmosphere. The political environment of the country was also very hot in those days, which was often discussed by father at home. At that time I was a 15 year old boy. After returning from office in the evening, father had said that tomorrow Bhairon Singh Shekhawat would take oath as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. On this I asked out of childish curiosity, how are these men? The father replied with a laugh- Vigorous. Rajasthan is fortunate that it has got a brave person as Chief Minister. On the same day I heard some things from father's mouth about the struggling life of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
The opportunity to see Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat closely came in the year 1992 when I was selected in the Department of Information and Public Relations in the Government of Rajasthan. At that time the second government of Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawatji was running in the state. I had chosen the date of my joining in the directorate as 16th December 1992, even in those days the political environment of the country was full of hustle and bustle. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government was dismissed just a day before my joining.
On 16 December 1992, when I gave my joining in the Directorate of Information and Public Relations located in the Government Secretariat premises, there was a strange fearful atmosphere in the entire Secretariat. The whole complex was reverberating with the whistles of the security personnel and the sirens of fast-moving vehicles, which created fear in the mind. Later it came to know that President's rule has been imposed in the state, so Governor Dr. M. Chennareddy is going to come. He is a person who likes discipline, so today there is strictness all around. If any person is seen on the road or in the corridor of the Secretariat premises, the security personnel are whistling to remove him.
By the end of the evening, it was learned that the papers were taken out from the ministers' chambers in the secretariat. These were the papers in which the wishes, aspirations, dreams and compulsions of crores of people living in the remote areas of the state were written. Actions were yet to be taken on these papers, but after the departure of the government, these papers were no longer of any use. New papers will have to be written for the aspirations of the people to be re-expressed before the new government.
That day I realized for the first time that a Chief Minister who runs the entire government is not an individual, but the focal point of the aspirations, aspirations and dreams of crores of people. He is surrounded by problems from all sides. Thousands of people are directly attached to him, millions of hands are always hovering towards him with some paper or the other, crores of eyes are looking at him with hope and his own personal life is nothing, nothing. P>
There was a pain in my heart. I had hoped that in this new appointment I would get an opportunity to see Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat closely and possibly also work with him, but his government had been dismissed and the state was under President's rule. I was posted from the directorate to Jalore district and after a few days I moved to Jalore. Exactly a year later, on December 4, 1993, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat formed the government for the third time in the state. There was hope again in my mind that now I would be able to see them with my eyes. Maybe I can get a chance to work with them too.
Thus, for the first time in the year 1994, I had the opportunity to see Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat with my own eyes when he visited Jalore district and I got the opportunity to do press coverage of his visit as District Information and Public Relations Officer. Seeing Mr. Shekhawat the first thought that came to my mind was – these are exactly the same as what my father had told about them in the year 1997. Very simple, easy.
I was posted in Jalore district till June 1997. Meanwhile Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat made several visits to Jalore district as Chief Minister and I was fortunate to have his media coverage. I was very impressed by his oratory style. It did not seem that to understand his words, one needs to put even the slightest emphasis on his mind. Simple words, well-spoken words, short sentences and quirky style. I have never had any difficulty or confusion in writing his speeches in the form of a press note.
Meanwhile, in the year 1996, general elections for the Eleventh Lok Sabha were decided. Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat visited Jalore district before the notification of Lok Sabha elections was issued. During this, he visited the areas from Ahor to Jalore, Bagra, Bhinmal and Sanchore etc. by road. I accompanied the Chief Minister's convoy for media coverage. The appearance I saw in this journey was enough to stun an inexperienced person like me. His entire journey was without any flair, without any pomp and noise. Hundreds of people were seen standing on both sides of the road during the entire journey. The Chief Minister would stop his car after seeing him, shake hands with him and if anyone stood with a garland, he would wear a garland from his hand. He used to talk to him in Marwari with Shekhawati, which often contained that person's name. I would be surprised how many names a person can remember. He would ask for gutkha from many people, eat the gutkha of his hand by sharing it with others and go ahead.
I would have been even more surprised when they asked people about their cows and buffaloes and farming by taking their names. By taking the name of his boy, he would ask about his employment and also take information about how he is in the in-laws' house. There were also many old references in these things. For the first time in this journey, I came to understand that not only do lakhs of hands stand around the Chief Minister with papers, but lakhs of his friends also live in villages and villages across the state. There are his fans and there are those who wish him well.
In 1997, literacy program started in Jalore district. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was personally concerned for this mission. When the Jalore district administration presented its project to the National Literacy Mission, I was also part of the team that got the project built and the team that presented it to the National Literacy Mission in Delhi. When the National Literacy Mission approved this project, the Chief Minister was not happy. The Chief Minister himself came for its launch in Jalore district. District Collector Rajeshwar Singh organized a huge program for the launch of this program at the district headquarters. By that time my transfer had already taken place. That's why the District Collector called me to Jalore to conduct the program.
This was my first and last program conducted in my memory for Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The program was grand. It was as if the whole district was engulfed in it. It was already decided between me and the district collector that how the program would be conducted, who would speak and what would happen. Everything went as it should and in the end the Chief Minister got up to speak. He must have said for some four or five minutes that his mic stopped working. Electricity was coming but the mic was off. Nobody understood anything. Everything was fine till now and now everything was going to be jaggery. My mic was working. It took three or four minutes to see where the mic had gone bad.
This was my first time conducting a general meeting of any Chief Minister, yet I acted patiently and, thinking that until Mike arrived, I started speaking about the literacy mission of Jalore. Till now that which was decided between me and the District Collector had happened but now that which was not decided was going to happen. It was very indecent and awkward to speak in the middle of the Chief Minister's speech, but I took this audacity in view of the situation. It took about thirteen to fourteen minutes for the mic to be arranged. In the meantime, I kept on talking about the future action plan of the Literacy Mission of Jalore. Meanwhile, I got my sight from the District Collector two or three times but he did not give any indication to me. I kept on speaking and when the mike was fine, the Chief Minister said the first sentence like this - Choro ghano vigorous bolai. I held my breath, now I am convinced that no one is going to tell me anything for this audacity.
Before 1998 assembly general elections I was posted in Nagaur district. Prior to the imposition of the code of conduct, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had several visits to several towns of the district including the district headquarter Nagaur. This time also I did media coverage of his visits.
On 1 October 1998, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat came to Nagaur on a two-day visit. After being busy with many programs throughout the day, in the evening he went to the worship of a Jain monk doing Chaturmas in Nagaur. I also went with him. He was in the company of a Jain monk for about an hour. During that whole time there were only three persons in that room - Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Jain Sadhu and I. During this period, listening to the topics discussed between them, another new thing came to mind. The Chief Minister is not only for thousands of lakhs, crores of people, he is also for himself, he also worries about the soul, the Supreme Soul, the Ihalok and the afterlife.
The next day was October 2. The Chief Minister went to Gandhi Chowk to garland the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. I was also present there along with other officials of the district administration. By then many people had come to know that Bhairon Singhji had stayed in Nagaur at night and would come to Gandhi Chowk in the morning. It was seven o'clock in the morning at that time. Yet the entire Gandhi Chowk was chock-full of people. Same thing happened here too. The Chief Minister took gutkha from someone, asked about the names of the children of some people and his convoy left by eight o'clock.
While in the post of Vice President in the year 2007, he came to Rajaram Ashram Shikarpura on the anniversary of Mahant Kishnaramji Maharaj. At that time I was Public Relations Officer in Jodhpur Discom but I was hired for the coverage of his visit. Lakhs of people were present in Shikarpura that day. Wherever you run your eyes, only men are men, women are women. There is no place to hold sesame seeds in the ashram premises. The Vice President came around ten thirty in the day. When he went to the main temple for darshan, the place around was secured with wooden batons and the policemen were standing around those bats. The common man did not have the courage to break that security circle and reach them, but when he came, lakhs of people ran towards the main temple involuntarily. They wanted to see their leader with a full eye. I have never seen such a breathtaking sight in my life. This hypnosis broke only when the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi entered the ashram.
I last covered the visit of Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to the Nagana temple in the year 2007. Then I was posted in Barmer district. This time he was the Vice President. It was a matter of coincidence, this time also the political atmosphere of the state was hot. He was the Vice-President, had risen above the political issues, yet the soil does not taste, he knew how to shoot the word-broken arrows. He always used to do something that even the snake would die and the stick did not break. In Barmer district also, from the stage he took the names of many such people who were sitting in front of him in the crowd. Taking the names of some people, he also mentioned the things that happened in his old visits to Barmer district. The essence of this speech was such that after the meeting was over, everyone felt that he was going to talk to Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat personally. Satisfied and overwhelmed! Probably the last time I saw him was in the temple of Govinddevji in Jaipur. He came to Govinddevji's temple with full love but without creating any sensation.
Received the sad news of his passing on 15 May 2010. Big news and pictures were published in the next day's newspapers. One day the father picked up the newspaper and said – tribute should be paid to Bhairon Singhji. In those days, I used to write a column in the daily Navjyoti titled Third Eye, which was on the tongues of people in western Rajasthan. In the same column, I wrote an article on 18th May 2010 – Where has that simplicity, simplicity and innocence of the world gone! It was my humble tribute to him. What more could I have given him than a literal tribute!
I salute them wholeheartedly. In the words of national poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar - Jai Ho wherever you burn in the world to Punit Anal. He was Puneet Anal!
– Dr. Mohanlal Gupta
63, Sardar Club Scheme,
Air Force Area, Jodhpur
www.rajasthanhistory.com
Cell :+91 94140 76061