Portraits of Batchmates-13

 The tank (above) and some specimens below (from our Year book 1982-84)-

Prez

The President who believed in Benevolent Dictatorship, and owner of the best smile. He broke the lady-in-white taboo by advertising for Surf. Hindustan Lever was mighty pleased and invited him to head their Corporate Washing division. He declined and went to the moon instead- it was WHITER. Money didn't fit anywhere in his schemata- so hence therefore his failure to have Rs. (60x6) refunded to every one of us (Transport).

Duru Moron

The best mimic we had among us. His solos on J.D. Singh et. al. had listeners in stitches. A good party man, he enlivened all gatherings with his songs-these happened to resemble the originals in tune, and little else. He is still trying to understand how his baggage walked away on the way to Ahmedabad. He specialises in disappearing whenever he is required on official duty.

Bootlegger

A gentle (?), genial, ambling personality who runs out of sparring partners. Rarely misses the opponent's feat on a footer field- the ball, of course, miles away. A walking who's where and how on campus flora and fauna, he also demonstrated considerable knowledge on booze and expertise in selling it. His only crib came when the Shaw Wallace people refused to give weightage to the above experience.

My Vote Goes To...

It's voting time...in the U.S. Since we are more concerned with McD rather than Kamat's it is quite natural that I should be concerned about their next President rather than our next PM. I have put out strong arguments for and against some of their major candidates. I don't know if betting on an election in the U.S. is legal, but you would do well to pay heed, if it is.

Hillary- In case you did not know, she is the (aggrieved) wife of former Prez Bill Clinton, of Monica fame. Going by our standards, she deserves a sympathy vote. But since you can't trust a woman with a hand on the nuclear button (American view, not mine), she is ruled out.

Bernie Sanders- He is old, and talks sense on important issues like education (instead of war)- can you imagine this in gun-lobby-controlled America? What does he think of himself? A humanist? He is fighting (pun unintended) a lost cause. Therefore, I cannot vote for him.

Donald Trump- now that is what I call a candidate. (No, he is NOT the CEO of McDonald's). A big mouth, a funny wig, and foot permanently located in a part of the body that is guaranteed to produce laughter- the mouth! Even if we tried competing against this stalwart, we'd lose. And I hate losing. Therefore, my vote goes to Donald. After Mickey, he is my favourite cartooon character too.

Abdul Kalam-An Important Indian

He was unique. The highest office in the land did not change him. Lesser mortals change with much less, usually for worse. He seemed unconcerned about what the world was heaping on him- work, accolades, miseries (early in life), whatever..

His life was devoted to his work for many years, in the development of indigenous rocket/missile technology. But he was at his best talking to youngsters-children even, exhorting them to dream for themselves and India. Very inspiring.

As a teacher, his ability to simplify things was his greatest virtue, in my view. Maybe not just as a teacher. Just watched an old interview of his from 2008 by Mrinal Pande of Doordarshan TV. She asked him a wide range of questions, and he had an answer for every one of them. No evasion, straight answers, sometimes explaining new concepts such as a new index of how well a country is doing (in addition to GDP, how many people are pulled up from poverty each year plus how many people live in joint families-according to him, a positive support system) very easily, and very knowledgeable about his country and various initiatives-institutional and private. He also explained how we need technology in agriculture because he expected a drop in arable land, water and manpower in the food-growing sector. Open, innovative and positive.

No other person in high office in recent times has earned so much love and respect from such a wide range of people. Hats off to a great Indian. May we see more like him.