Just a few days back I happen to come across Respected Bhanu Kumar ji Shastri on Facebook and immediately sent a friend request to him which was promptly accepted. Being friends so to say with a contemporary of my Grandfather is a great honour. He has shared a picture of him with Dada and Late Bhairon Singh ji Shekhawat. Looking at this picture i can only think about the sad state of affairs between some of the political Opponents in today’s times.

Bhanu Kumar ji and Dada belonged to two completely different ideologies. While dada belonged to the Congress, Bhanu ji was the founding Members and the face of Jan Sangh and is the reason of BJP’s hold in Udaipur. They were fierce political opponents who fought elections against each other, the tradition that continued till 80’s when my Grandmother fought and won against Bhanu ji.

But in spite of the above, the kind of relations our families have shared over the years is truly remarkable and the entire credit should be given to both Dada and Bhanu ji. For whatever their political differences they never came in between the personal equations they shared. For it is very easy to cross that boundary. There are various examples of the kind of relations they shared but as of now would like to share two of them:

• The story goes like this that during the election campaign especially in the outskirts of Udaipur there would be a few places to stay in the night in those days. So both of them would share the room and have breakfast together and leave for campaigning. During one such day there was only one venue to address the public at large and same place had to be used by both of them. First it was dada’s turn who knew it was Bhanu ji’s turn after him. So he urged the public to not get up and leave the venue but to keep sitting to listen to Bhanu ji. Where do you find such spirit in today’s times??

• Our family have always sought advice from Bhanu ji who is an expert in astrology. Especially in the case of my father’s side, as all our जन्म पत्रिका have been made under his guidance and the tradition follows with my kids as well. He has always been there to guide and aid us.

• 

  Another example would be the relation between Dada and Bhairon Singh ji Shekhawat. He was unable to come for my wedding but had insisted that we meet him after the wedding, that we most dutifully did and paid him visit at the Hyderabad House where he was staying as the Vice President of India. The love and affection that we received can only be given by a member of the family.

I am sure there would be other loads of examples even in current times but the kind of bitterness that we see in states like the Bengal, Tamil Nadu and even in UP leaves a lot to be desired. We have reached a stage where the people from the same Political Party would not look at each other forget even talking.

The ultimate aim is the welfare of the public, politicking is the mean to end but not let us make it the end itself.

क्या सोच इतनी छोटी हो गयी है की मनभेद मतभेद को गौण करता जा रहा है ???