So much has been written and so much has been shown about the life and times of the departed Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YSR. There is really nothing much I can add to the immense flow of tributes and information for the past 48 hours.
The fact that I have multiple ideological differences with him does not allow me to forget the fact that this leader rose from the people and lived for them. It is no mean task to become a representative for a constituency. To be able to sustain and improve with each victory is certainly much more difficult than just winning once. Only those who rise from the bottom of the hierarchy can quickly catch the pulse of the people and read the mind of the cadre. We have some very fine examples of such leaders in the country, and surely YSR is on that list.
He took on the mighty and the then percieved to be invincible Chandrababu Naidu head on and went on to become the Chief Minister in 2004, and became solely responsible for literally holding the party's hand and guiding it through the 5 years of power. In his term, the internal bickering that has been the trademark of the Congress party for decades died slowly. We can now clearly see how his absence for just two days is bringing back memories of the old Congress. Single handedly, he lead the party through another election victory becoming the first CM in the history of the state to complete a full five year term and then lead the party to victory again.
Irony of fate is sometimes just very cruel. The same rains that co-operated with him for his entire first term in governance have become the bane when it came to his own life. To have lived like that and to have died this way is just a grim reminder of the unfairness of life.
The controversies surrounding him notwithstanding, it is the truth that he has influenced tens of lakhs of people; it is a fact that about one and half crore people accepted him as their leader; unfortunately, such a leader will be hard to replace, that is the hard reality.
PS: Telugu article is here.
3 comments:
"Irony of fate is sometimes just very cruel. The same rains that co-operated with him for his entire first term in governance have become the bane when it came to his own life. To have lived like that and to have died this way is just a grim reminder of the unfairness of life."
brilliantly put.
I would like to add one point:
Generally there is a saying in Telugu "Pranaalu Panchbootallo kalavatam" (life of a person got mingled in Five elements).
The same has happened in YSR's death.The analogy is:
1.He died when it was Raining(element Water)
2.Helicopter caught fire(element Fire)
3.While travelling on Top of a Hill(element Sky)
4.When the wind was blowing at a high speed(element Air)
5.His body was lying on the soil(element Earth)
In a way we can say he got mingled with Nature....
Absolutely...the bickering has only just started!
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