The Consensus Builder

Pranab Mukherjee’s decision to visit the RSS headquarters was not understood by many. It was an expression of faith in secularism. He believed it not to be a cloistered virtue

- SALMAN KHURSHID

PRANAB MUKHERJEE 1935-2020

As I look back over the years and flip through innumerable photographs in my physical and digital albums, it comes to mind how much Pranabda was a part of my life. It would be presumptuous to claim that I too was part of his life, for he was a remarkably glorious one, so full and eventful that one wonders how one life could be so rich and varied. I saw him first as my father’s senior minister in the commerce ministry when I carried some important papers he had sought urgently. It was late in the evening and he looked relaxed, puffing on his favorite pipe, sharing some story with a senior civil servant of his ministerial staff. He thanked me for the trouble I had taken and sat me down to ask about what I was doing. How could I have known that a day would come when he would be my senior minister in the ministry of external affairs and, some years later, a colleague in the cabinet? Yet, the affection and comfort I felt as a young missive carrier remained constant to the end. I ask myself what Pranabda was to me beyond the glowing descriptions that have flooded the media channels and columns and, inevitably, the description is sentimental as well as professional: he was comforting in moments of stress, stunning in his wisdom and knowledge, inspiring in his command of the political ambiance, an icon who seemed far above one’s modest existence and yet very human to reach out to. There was much I learnt from Pranabda and never imagined that the bell would so soon call the teacher away.