Had I been with him at that time I would never have let him meddle in Sri Lankan politics which finally led to his untimely death” at the hands of the LTTE. This is what departed former President of India Pranab Mukherjee had told one of his closest associates Sukhendu Shekhar Roy currently a Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament.
Reminiscing Mukherjee’s memories Roy also said, “it was unfortunate that he could not get the opportunity of serving India as its Prime Minister…” ruing further “when we talk of Bangladesh’s Nobel Laureate Md Younis and his micro-banking policy we forget the story of Pranab da’s contribution towards carrying the banks to the villagers’ doorsteps after the nationalization of banks … he went totally unsung there.”
He also remembered how at the instance of then Censor Board Chairperson Sharmila Tagore he had watched his last Hindi film Rangde Basanti alongwith the three services chief before giving his clearance overruling certain issues. “He was never unduly dogmatic and respected the truth that was speakable.”
“True,” another former colleague and Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharjee said, “like Jyoti Basu, Pranab da was perhaps the, another best Prime Minister India never had.”
Even as condolences poured in as did an assortment of memories Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she had lost a “father figure” in the former President. Soon after his demise she wrote “It is with deep sorrow I write this. Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee has left us. An era has ended. For decades he was a father figure. From my first win as MP, to being my senior Cabinet colleague, to his becoming President while I was CM..”
She added, “So many memories. A visit to Delhi without Pranab da is unimaginable. He is a legend in all subjects from politics to economics. Will be forever grateful. Shall miss him immensely. My condolences to Abhijit and Sharmistha.”
From Miriti in Birbhum district a close friend (refusing to share his name) said “never we will see him again coming to perform Durga Puja every year … never we will see him coming back to Miriti … I saw his father who was a Congress leader and a freedom fighter … I saw him throughout his career… a perfect modest gentleman and a perfect villager in whom the heart of India resided.”
Atypical Bengali Bhadrolok who spoke his flawless English the Bengali Mukherjee’s parliamentary life spanned 37 years, starting from 1969. At 34, he was handpicked by Indira Gandhi who brought a socialist element in the Congress. Though Mukherjee tended to retain the socialist streak he hardly converted it into a dogma.
A school teacher and a college lecturer in Howrah he went on to become the President of India in 2012. Earlier he held all major ministries - finance, defense, external affairs and commerce - besides serving as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. With his profound knowledge of history, economics society, polity and not least the scriptures he could silence the Opposition most often than not.
He admitted of having learnt his art from the likes of Chitta Basu, Hiren Mukherjee, Madhu Limaye, Indrajit Gupta, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Piloo Modi, LK Advani and others.
Picked by Ms Gandhi in the 1970s and dropped by Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 he formed his own party with Dr Sisir Bose the grand nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Later he rejoined the Congress and the rest is history. His strong memory earned him the appellation of “computer” from none other than Indira Gandhi.
Cut to his residence at Dhakuria at South Kolkata. A veteran colleague Deboprosad Mukherjee said how “a galaxy of leaders and who’s who would visit him when he was in Kolkata. Even Bangladesh Prime Minister SK Hasina was his close friend and took his advice on a number of issues we have seen then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee spending time discussing important issues … and not least present Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee…He continued to do good to others without bragging about that… one day he told me how even Indira Gandhi once told him that ‘you ask anything and nothing comes out of Pranab’s mouth save some smoke.”
Amal Mukherjee a friend and a former Principal of the Presidency College reminisced how “he was a man of word and very much freedom-loving. So much so that in his bid to become self-reliant he had stopped taking money from his father while he was doing his masters … and to keep going he gave private tuitions and one of his earliest students Subhra became his wife.”
Talking about his magnanimity former CPI(M) MP Samik Lahiri said, “nothing from big to small would evade his eyes. I was a first time MP in Parliament and in 2004 and he walked up to me on the very first day… I was surprised. Later whenever I went up to him for any work he would call me at his residence in the night and listened to me patiently … Once during a flight to Delhi I was reading a book and hand not noticed him. But he saw me and walked up to me. Looking at the book he said ‘even I am reading the same book’. He was a generation that will never come back.”
True perhaps. The generation that cared for all and sundry around. When your correspondent once visited him for a pre-fixed interview at the Pradesh Congress office in Kolkata apprehensive that he might turn him out for being full half-an-hour-late --- thanks to some traffic issues --- he simply called him in with first question and concern in his face “bela hoyeche, kheye eshecho … kichu khabe (its late noon are you hungry … will you eat something …”
And then without waiting for the reply ordered for some snacks saying “I too am father” he said not for once asking for the reason of the delay. After the interview he said “do tell Chandan (Dr Mitra the editor-in-chief) that I have taken good care of you. He is a good friend of mine.”
One remembers his respect for the media when he said in a memorial lecture that “Democracy without a free Press is like a blank piece of paper.” True! With Pranab Mukherjee a generation has gone.