Darshan Mondkar, a Pune-based entrepreneur and story-teller, recreates his conversation with Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra’s Maharashtra leg
I joined the (Bharat Jodo) yatra at Degloor when Rahul Gandhi entered into Maharashtra with the ‘Mashaal Walk’. I then walked as a ‘yatri’ from Degloor onwards for the entire day. I spent some time walking with him in the area of Biloli.
My conversation with him went on for about 20 minutes. He took the first couple of minutes to understand me — what I do, what sort of a thought process do I have. He pointed to a policeman in his security who was pushing the crowd behind and asked me, “Do you think this policeman has the right to beat that boy?”
I said, “No.”
He asked, “Why?”
I said, “His job is to protect you and not harm the rights of people.”
“So we have similar thoughts,” he said, and smiled.
“Why are you walking?” I asked.
He asked back: “Do you know the difference between puja and tapasya?”
“Yes, puja is worship and tapasya is penance,” I said.
He replied: “Tapasya comes from the word tup. When you do tapasya you generate heat; the energy which consumes you. It hurts you, it pains you. And, then, you achieve.”
I asked: “But what do you hope to achieve?”
“Your love, your blessings, our unity,” he is steadfast in his thoughts.
“There could have been other ways,” I said.
He explained: “Yes. Sure. I do not want to achieve anything without putting in an effort, without doing tup. Unless it hurts me, it pains me, any achievement is not worth it. This Bharat Jodo Yatra is my tapasya.”
“I am sure you will achieve your mission,” I replied.
He said, “One has to do tapasya without expectations and only then will it be successful. I don’t know whether I will achieve what I have set out to do. But, I will keep burning myself till I do that.”
I tell you. This man is a gem.
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The rest of the conversation revolved around the deep fears that we have in our society in India in contemporary times. He spoke about how we need to overcome the fear within us so that we can become strong voices against the fascism of BJP/RSS.
I was quickly able to understand that he is one of the easiest guy to talk to. He does not try to dominate the conversation and simply goes with the flow. Any apprehensions that I might have had about him totally evaporated.
I am not sure how much of this will translate into votes for the Congress, but, undoubtedly, Rahul Gandhi is being established as a ‘Man of the Moment’ and there is a huge image-revival happening for him which is an added bonus.
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Indeed, one thing that I am sure about the Bharat Jodo Yatra is that it will achieve to rebuild the spirit of ‘Bhaichara’ that we had among us in the country earlier, before the social fabric was ripped apart, starting a decade ago. I am certain of that.
As told to Amit Sengupta