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Bhai is back
Manohar Parrikar proves just why he is the apple of Goa's eye
A senior BJP leader with an RSS background attending the national executive of the party in Goa a couple of years ago narrated an anecdote from decades past to his colleagues when the topic of veered to a discussion on former Union Defence Minister and now Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Apparently, the fathers of then youngsters Manohar Parrikar and (now senior Congress leader) Jairam Ramesh were both close to certain RSS leaders in the Konkan region and both of them came to seek advice on how best to handle their wards who very clearly had minds of their own even as young men. “Well, we managed to get both of them put their talents to use for the country though only one for our party,” he said, to guffaws all around. Bhai — and you have to understand the subtleties and sub-text of the Goan/Konkani cultural idiom to understand why this is a term of endearment and respect in those parts and has nothing to do with Bollywood version of the word — as Parrikar is known to all in Goa from the fisher-sellers in Panaji market to a significant section of devout Catholics otherwise considered traditional Congress supporters and to the leading lights of the influential Saraswat Brahmin community, may have set social media on fire by going from his hospital bed straight to the State Assembly to present the Budget, but for those who have seen him at work it was no surprise. He still has a mind of his own.
Of course, in an increasingly fractious polity, that has got him into trouble, at times, such as when light-hearted remarks about Ganesha idols acquiring mongoloid features ever since China started manufacturing them or more recently his comments on girls having started to drink beer (which to be fair to him were taken a bit out of context). But there's no doubting the competence, commitment and integrity of the man; even his opponents don't, in the main. He's been spotted supervising PWD workers and junior engineers fixing road culverts on Sundays, for crying out loud, not to mention routinely dropping into his favorite cafés for tea, mirchi and buns. Bhai, despite the high office he has held at the Centre and his multiple terms as Chief Minister remains eminently approachable, sometimes to a fault.
How many political leaders in India today, and this when his party got a bit of drubbing in the last Assembly poll and could form the Government only with last-minute alliances with erstwhile political foes on condition that Parrikar come back to Goa and head the coalition, have temples, churches and mosques alike praying for his speedy recovery without any prompting and cutting across political affiliations? Even his arrival in Goa from the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai where he was being treated for an inflammation of the pancreas was typically Bhai. He apparently booked his own air-ticket and travelled with only his son and personal assistant. He landed at Dabolim Airport and proceeded straight to the Assembly Complex to present the Budget for 2018-19 with a short detour en route to his residence to freshen up and have his medication. In the House, he spoke for about seven-eight minutes and presented the Budget, his fellow legislators respected medical advice not to get too close to him for fear of him picking up an infection and his office issued a heartfelt statement of thanks for the people's wishes and prayers for his speedy recovery soon after. And it was business as usual for governance in Goa.
Parrikar is not infallible, naturally, but this is neither the place nor time to discuss his political-administrative strengths and weaknesses. Rather, it is a time to applaud a politician and celebrate a State that has a lot to teach the rest of India.
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