disputed.by<\/a>, none else than the wife, mine and others.\u00a0\u00a0She clings to a meaning
\n-less phrase \u2018Better-half\u201d being bandied about.. ..I am convinced that it is a facetious
\nphrase and does not mean anything being an omnibus expression. I prefer \u2018the other
\nhalf\u2019.. Anyway that is not the subject of this piece but I may come to it later.<\/p>\nI have three heroes, men whom I admire. There are others but these three top the list
\nSwamy Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The first two .\u00a0\u00a0.
\nI have only heard about or read about. But admire their personalities and what they have
\nachieved or stood\u00a0\u00a0for. .Vivekananda stirred my imagination, for his modern ideas and the
\nspeech which he delivered in\u00a0Chicago\u00a0by beginning to address the assemblage as \u201cBrothers
\nand sisters of\u00a0America\u201d. While in school I had learnt by heart Tagore\u2019s poem
\n\u201cWhere the Mind is Without Fear\u201d, an inspirational classic.<\/p>\n
Nehru, as someone said is not just\u00a0\u00a0a man but a procession of men.: Patriot, Statesman,
\nAuthor, Freedom fighter, Barrister and above all a Humanist. It was in the late fifties that I
\nhad gone to\u00a0Delhi\u00a0\u00a0in the month of October and happened to visit\u00a0\u00a0Gandhiji\u2019s Samadhi on
\nhis birthday. There was a lot of police bandobust, and there he was followed by a bunch of
\npolitical cronies and some members of the\u00a0\u00a0public. I joined the crowd and inched forward
\nto a few feet of\u00a0\u00a0Panditji, when a police Inspector took me firmly by the hand\u00a0\u00a0and told me
\nin nouncertain voice \u2018Go back\u201d. I did.. I had to but happy anyway, having had a glimpse of\u00a0the
\ngreat man.<\/p>\n
Shortly afterwards, I met in\u00a0Delhi\u00a0a\u00a0LawCollege\u00a0classmate of mine, one Mr.Karta who was
\nconnected with the Indian\u00a0Institute\u00a0of\u00a0Parliamentary Studies. \u201cWhy don\u2019t youcome ?\u00a0\u00a0Panditji is
\naddressing an invited audience\u201d. I jumped at the offer. And he took out an
\ninvitation from his brief case. I went.. Panditji spoke with great sincerity and passion about the
\nLegislative wing and its importance.\u00a0\u00a0After the speeches were over, we moved over for buffet at
\nan adjacent area, I\u00a0\u00a0was trying to reach out for a samosa when another hand too was extended
\nin the direction of the potato chips plate nearby.. It had freckles on top of the palm and wrist.
\nI looked up and there he was..: Nehruji.. He gave one of his charming smiles\u00a0\u00a0and before I could
\nrecover from it all, he was gone.. He .sort of\u00a0\u00a0pranced away and on his way he gave, with a
\nrolled up paper which he had, a pat on the butt f a lady who was bent over picking up something.
\nA senior woman of the Congress party she was. Recovering quickly from the shock and a bit red
\nin the face, and realizing who had played the prank she quickly\u00a0\u00a0gave him a paternal look and smile..
\nNehruji had gone.
\nIn. the late fifties, I was working for Indian Airlines ,\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0was on duty at the Delhi Palam\u00a0\u00a0airport.
\nThe usual crowd of party leaders, politicians and others were there with garlands and bouquets.
\nNehruji was retirning from a foreign trip and being in my uniform\u00a0\u00a0I could see him from very close
\nquarters. He was gone. The next day a\u00a0\u00a0photographer who covers\u00a0\u00a0the comings and goings of digni
\n-taries \u00a0handed me a photo. There I was next to Panditji who was in a smiling mood.. I could not
\nbelieve it. The photo is still one of my treasured keep-sakes
\nSoon after my marriage I took out this photo from my album and she (my wife) gave a look
\nwhich I thought was one of admiration. \u201cHey, that\u2019s great\u201d,. she said somewhat lukewarmly.. But I saw something morein her eyes. \u201cOh, nothing\u201d, she said. After a little more persuasive talk she said \u201dWait\u201d. .<\/p>\n
She rumm-aged an old suitcase and produced from it a photo of Nehru visiting the Ramakrishna Mission in\u00a0Bangalore. A slender girl was handing over a bouquet to a smiling Panditji..\u201dWho is it\u201d ? I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201c Thats me, I was wearing glasses in those days\u201d, said my\u00a0better-half\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0who\u00a0\u00a0had done one
\nbetter than me. !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0Face to Face Disc x Vengrai Parthasarathy\u00a0<vengrai@hotmail.com> 11\/23\/07 _________________ Face to Face -by\u00a0Ven Parthsarthy\u00a0Wednesday, July 04, 2007 This story has been read 304 times. Blog this story Face to Face\u2026 By Vengrai Parthasarathy I am not a male chauvinist. I have always believed that while men are superior to women\u00a0\u00a0in some respects, women are in… <\/p>\n
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