India's अमृतस्य पुत्रा

                                                                         18th june  2016, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan wrote a letter to PM and briefed him about the work done by him during his tenure as  Top boss of RBI. This letter contained more than briefing. He also informed Govt. that after the end of his tenure, he would like to go back to academia. He spilled cold water on the rumors about who will rule south Mumbai. In the aftermath of this letter came a strong reaction of people on social media , it seems Mr. Rajan  an RBI Gov.  has a  very deep fan following  . It left many baffled How , Mr, Rajan garnered  such support for himself as an institutional head ?

 Mr. Rajan during has always been so apt and frank enough to express his view on certain important matters and issues leaving frenzy politician and the people in govt.   In His Governor’s speech at the Twentieth Lalit Doshi Memorial Lecture on August 11, 2014 at Mumbai , He explained why corrupt politician wins elections in India, though his description does not contain any new stuff , people more or less know these things but , it is a rare occasion somebody heading an important institute like RBI came out in the open saying that. Mr. Rajan took on directly on Kingfisher CEO Vijay Mallya by saying defaulters does not flaunt money. He didn’t stay back by just saying , but also pushed the banks to go after him for the recovery and actions. At one point , he got a look out notice issued against Mallya , same was revoked by central govt., for reason best known to them and Mallya flown away to London.

It is not that first time , we have seen such a bold and honest man on the job. India is blessed to have such people on different occasions but they have had a different philosophy or might be due the protocol of their service terms they rarely came out to make such bold statements. One thing is common for all  such glorious and decorated office bearers is when they got on the job , they made their impact seen and heard . It is not too far in the past , India had an honest and brave CAG , VInod Rai . What he did during his tenure was unprecedented. A dozen of Babus , Ministers and CEO of top telecom gone behind Bars and still fighting legal battle in anscam that shook the entire nation. Chief Justice of  Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had said , I have never seen this much number of zeros in any Govt. document. It would not be hyperbolic to say that, CAG finding and unearthing of various scams was majorly responsible for a change in the power corridors of Delhi. He gave the action to the unheard voices of corruption swollen voices, he gave the opposition political parties a momentum to charges against the ruling party.

I would like to quote another example of one such decorated officer , T.N.Seshan Chief Election Commissioner (1990-96). Muscle power became an important tool for winning an election in India , booth capturing , open wallet ,  one man making all votes for village and getting the green signal from officers was not unusual. Criminals were being protected, promoted and employed by politicians especially in the northern part of country. This gentleman came and changes the whole playground and   strictly implementing code of conduct, a protocol for utilization of forces got changed, voter IDs and certain other things. Now a days, all those usual practices are not even possible in the dreams of any politician, gone were the days when they can not even bother about vote with money and muscles, now at least they got to be humble and beg for vote once in a while . Mr. T.N.Sheshan taught the officers, what it meant to ride a lion and the legacy , he left behind is glorious . India has seen more fierce Chief Election commissioner in coming time like , Mr. M.S.Gill , Mr. J.M.Lingdoh .

In our country , It was unimaginable to even think that any Govt. project will completed in time without even being compromised with the standard and will offer world class service . E.Sreedharan did it all, not once, not twice, not thrice but 5 times, He did it. If anecdotes are to be believed, it was said that one of his key assignments was as punishment for giving an unpleasant frank reply to a minister. That Political hound certainly didn’t like the honest answers and send him to Pamban Bridge project at Rameshwaram. Outcome of thatis legendry since then , The chance of glory was Konkan railway that got him in the notice to everyone , that established among politician even if you don’t like him being honest frank and fearless , you need him. Delhi Metro is and will remain the most shining title under his belt.

We can come up with more examples like this, but the idea is to support the honest and frank people at the helm of these institutions. They not only perform beyond imagination, but also leave a wake of leadership, install a new culture that will cherish long way in the future.

शृण्वन्तु बिश्वे अमृतस्य पुत्रा , आ ये धामानि दिब्यानि तस्थुः ("Listen, O the children of immortality the world over. . .)- Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Chapter II, Verse 5. As the verse says Such people in our times are like अमृतस्य पुत्रा (Immortal Child ) . Institutions and organization will bloom under their guidance and leadership  These are the reasons why so many people love , respect, admire and support executives like Mr. Raghuram rajan , Mr, E.Sreedharan , Mr, T,N.Sheshan and many more less known or unheard officers .