WHY DO WE NEGLECT A SIMPLE AND YET VERY POWERFUL LEADER LIKE LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI ?

Ali Peter John

"HE INSPIRED EVERY INDIAN AND MANOJ KUMAR WAS ONE OF THEM"

There was a sudden dark cloud of gloom all over the country when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister Of India died on May 27 ,1964 . And there was one big question in the minds of every Indian and the question was "who after Nehru ?"No one could even imagine that the question would find an answer in a diminutive man callled Lal Bahadur Shastri who was a true Congress man .

He was a Union Railway Minister for a while and had resigned only after one small rail accident after he accepted the responsibility for the accident .He was the kind of leader no one had expected to see on the National Political scene . The High Command of the Congress Party decided to have him as the successor to Nehru and I think it was one of the finest decisions taken by the Party .

He was to simple a man to make his power felt , but it took him less than a year to show the people of India what a capable and courageous man they had as their Prime Minister.

He was such an honest , humble and truthful man that he accepted a salary of Rupees seven thousand and five hundred only which was the official salary of a Prime Minister according to the rule book (Constitution) and used the Prime Minister House , the car and all the other amenities and facilities granted to a Prime Minister only in his official capacity .

The only car he had bought was a second hand Fiat which he had bought for Rupees five thousand only and when he suddenly died after becoming a national hero for all time , his wife Mrs.Lalita Shastri paid back the amount her husband had paid for the car , she paid the money in instalments after selling off her meagre jewellery . When Shastri died , his family was almost reduced to penury .

There are many amazing and brave achievements to his credit , but he will always be remembered as a one-man -army who brought The Pakistan army and the Government on its knees .

I was a boy in school when he was the Prime Minister, but I remember every speech he made which was reported in The Indian Express and other leading newspapers at a time when politicians and journalists had their dignity and integrity intact .

I remember how even we school boys used to crowd around all the radio sets to listen to his speeches which not only encouraged us but filled us with the spirit to serve the country in a better way . My brother was declared lost during the war and my mother kept crying , but I once made her listen to a speech by Shastri and that was the last time she cried over the loss of her son and began listening to all the speeches of Shastri even if she didn't understand most of what he said .

I have never seen a staunch follower of Shastri like my mother , who by some strange coincidence died at the age of forty six just one month after Shastri was found dead under mysterious circumstances after signing the historic Tashkent agreement in Moscow with President Ayub Khan of Pakistan ......

Shastri rarely had time to attend film shows or functions , but when Manoj Kumar invited him to see "Shaheed " , the film behind which he was the brain , Shastri made a special exception and saw the film till the end .......

After watching the film , he had a talk with Manoj Kumar and praise the film . And before he could leave the hall , he made a suggestion and even a request to Manoj Kumar tobmake a film based on his favorite slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan ".

Manoj who was on the verge of taking to direction was fired by the idea and decided to direct his first ever film (officially )which would be based on the slogan made popular by Shastri .

Manoj Kumar who was one of the most successful actors of the time stopped accepting all new work as an actor and worked on a script which revolved round Shastri's slogan and after satisfying himself with the script , he launched
"Upkar "

He had himself as the Kisan and had Rajesh Khanna in mind for the role of his younger brother who goes wild with the ways of the West , but Rajesh Khanna who had still to make it backed out at the last minute and Manoj Kumar brought in the young Prem Chopra who had worked with him in "Shaheed ".

He wanted the music of the film to be strong and had Kalyanji -Anandji , his friend to score the music and his other friend Gulshan Bawara to write the lyrics .He had Asha Parekh who was the glamour girl of the time to play a very sober Indian girl who is in love with Bharat . His biggest experiment was when he convinced the rulling villain Pran to go for a change and play a "lame Malang Baba ".

Manoj worked on making the film like a man possessed and completed the film without being aware that he was making a classic and a masterpiece which would be a milestone in the history of Indian Cinema . Shastri had not only given Manoj Kumar a new idea , but had also shown him a new way to reach higher peaks and give both Bharat and a man called Bharat a place and a name history could never dare to forget .

Manoj was now known as Mr.Bharat and he did not let down Bharat and all that the motherland stood for in all the other films he made in the years to come, outstanding films like " Purab Aur Paschim ", "Roti Kapda Aur Makan "and the crowning glory of his career , "Kranti "which was one of the first grand multi-starers with Dilip Kumar (it was Manoj dream to direct the thespian) . Manoj has made other brilliant films like "Shor "and has been the mind behind all the best directors he has worked with during his long and prestigious career .

So let us not dare forget a simple man like Lal Bahadur Shatri who has been neglected for no fault of his (was his being born on the same day as Gandhiji a fault or a crime committed by him ?) And how can be forget the many men and women inspired by him , not a great filmmaker like Manoj Kumar at least ?

JAI SHASTRI JAI JAWAN JAI KISAN JAI BHARAT.

AAJ HUMKO SAR JHUKAANA CHAHIYE . HAI KOI MAAI KA LAL JO MERA SATH DEGA INKO SALAAM KARNE OR INKO INKA SANMAAN KARNE ?