Sir — This refers to the report, “Soul of India in pluralism, tolerance: Pranab” (June 8). No visit of any former Indian President to a socio-political organisation must have created as much buzz as that of Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur.
Mukherjee’s mastery over English, his ability to unambiguously drive home the intended message, and, of course, a vast political career culminating into the zenith — India’s President, make him an interesting speaker to lend an ear to. He began soberly, touched upon history fluently and dwelt on the nuances of Indian history. Mukherjee, widely considered as one of India’s best parliamentarians ever, spoke like a wise sage and left it to the political parties to interpret what he meant.
On one hand, he spoke highly of India’s path to economic recovery and on the other, he lamented the country’s lowly “Happiness Index” rank. Mukherjee, having graced some top ministries of the Centre during his remarkable political journey would know well how crucial it is to strike a balance between welfare and well-being.
The deft and suave politician in Mukherjee came to the fore when he stressed on the importance of “dialogue and engagement”, throwing the ball into the top political parties’ courts to indulge in intense guessing about what he meant, and about whom. The phrase, “being an Indian first” of Mukherjee has already become a crossword puzzle with parties trying hard to fill in the blanks with words that suit them the best. Time will tell whether or not his visit to the RSS had a political overtone. Perhaps, the man of letters, who authored five well-written books, may pen another in due course to let the cat out of the bag.