Justice VR Krishna Iyer:;Here Is A Man; Real Man; Man With Difference !
Justice VR Krishna Iyer turns 99. But, I am sure, no one thinks that he is 99 years old, but 99 years young. Those who know Justice Iyer and those who have been watching him since the last few decades will not ask for the reason behind this statement at all. Because, he is the conglomerate of unfailing energy, sharp intellect, evergreen humanness, iron will, incredibly strong determination to fight the wrongs, ever-ready-to-serve-the-society-mood, etc. etc. He is the personification of all these virtues which I am fortunate to come across. I have been reading and hearing about this unique personality since my student days. But, since then I took about two decades to get closer to him. Kochi International Book Fair turned instrumental for it. Since I have been an active runner of the Fair since its very inception in 1997 and since Sri Iyer has been a vibrant well wisher of that programme, I got several opportunities to interact with him. When he was the president of the Fair for nearly 3 years, the chances to meet him became so ample. General Convener of the Fair Sri EN Nandakumar and myself used to visit Sri Iyer on and off for discussing the smooth running of the Fair. It was the rare opportunity for ordinary social activists like us to discuss several subjects with him and get his wise and fruitful advices. Those days are still evergreen in my thoughts. The leadership of the Fair was a rarity in rares combination of personalities par excellence. That list is too long to narrate. Late Dr. Henry Austin, Prof. Thuravoor Vishwambharan, Prof. M. Achuthan, late Justice Chandrasekhara Menon, late Adv. Balagangadhara Menon, Prof. MK Sanoo, Prof. VP Joy IAS, Sri Mohammed Hanish IAS, Dr. KR Vishwambharan IAS, Dr. V Nithyananda Bhat, etc. are some of them. These luminaries’ presence and participation were more than enough for us to be proud.
I still remember that during Sri Iyer’s regime as the Book Fair president his health was not so good. One doctor used to come from Medical Trust Hospital for doing physiotherapy on him. After the therapy he had to walk for some time in his
rooms. So, once when we went there for meeting him for some discussion, we had to wait for nearly 45 minutes before he completed his walk and got ready to meet us. We were asked to meet him in his bed room. He was virtually lying in bed. The moment we stepped into the room his first gesture was to apologise to us with folded hands for keeping us waiting. It was a rare experience for me, especially since it was from a person who interacts with President and Prime Minister of the country. At that time mission of our visit was to seek Sri Iyer’s help to get the permission of the union HRD minister to be the chief patron of the Book Fair. In fact, we were bit disappointed due to the non communication from the minister even after a few weeks since we shot him a letter. Sri Iyer heard us with utmost care; pat came his action. He called Chandrikachechi and dictated a letter to the minister in our presence. The dictation from the lying posture was a dream-like experience for me. The carefully chosen words and vocabulary were flowing like a spring time stream. I do not have any better comparison. Most proper and apt words … they are like a carefully tailored garland of flowers of different colours and different sweet fragrances. No words to edit or remove. No question of changing the words during and after dictation. Yes, it was the flow of a stream during spring season. No roar, no fierceness, no bombasts ! I had heard about the style of EMS’s dictation. I have witnessed P. Parameshwarji’s dictation. But, another intellectual giant in front of me. I felt sorry for missing several decades of life sans getting closer to a numero uno like Sri Iyer. It was a proud moment for me. Because, here is the man respected, adored and worshipped by the intellectuals as well as the men in the street, both within and without the country. I am just half an arm distance away from him. These random thoughts took me to a different world away from the dictation. By that time dictation was over and Chandrikachechi faxed the same to Delhi. We had no clue of what was in the store for us with respect to the minister’s nod. But, I was taken by surprise to get a phone call from the legendary man himself in the evening ….. Yes, he has got a fax back from the minister : Minister is all smiles to agree to our request. It was a rare moment in my life .. … I took several minutes to believe that it was not a dream ! It was an eye opener for a humble social worker like me. I had carried out several letter correspondences with several ministers in my life in the capacity of a social worker. Whatever matter it may, however genuine they are …. Most of them met with the tragic fate … that is, no reply.
Then I heard from some acquaintances of Sri Iyer that his faxes or messages to the president or prime minister get the same response from the highest seats of the power in the country. It took few more years before I could experience it. Once a political leader introduced a man to me. His brother was jailed in a Gulf country and sentenced to death in connection with a murder case. He was innocent and the “killed” person was reported to be leading a peaceful life in her country of origin. I took the brother, mother and sister of the jailed person to Sri Iyer. He heard the episode with patience. The letter to the President of India was ready in ten minutes. And, it was faxed immediately. The prayer was to relieve him from the death sentence. Sri Iyer got the positive answer the same evening. Thus, I came to know that what I heard was a glaring truth.
I had got the rare opportunity to be a part of Sri Iyer’s ‘incredibly strong determination to fight the wrongs’. It was a Saturday afternoon back in August or September, 2007. I was having an interesting read. Suddenly a close friend of mine called from Geneva. He was a young legal pundit in patent law. His hectic job took him to Geneva quite often. He said that Doha Round of WTO was going on in the Swiss capital. Indian delegation was under US pressure and even US President George Bush was reported to have called PM Dr Manmohan Singh three times to pressurise for Indian signature on some drafts which were allegedly detrimental to Indian interests. My friend wanted me to request Sri Iyer to speak to our PM and dissuade the government from signing the pact. Since the gravity of the matter was so serious and the operation of GOI was beyond my remote imagination, a hesitant me called Sri Iyer. Even though uncertainty about the winning chance prevailed, he conceded to my request. He sent a fax to the PM. Next day, I could not believe; my friend called me from Geneva only to inform me that GOI called back the Indian delegation sans signing the pact, thanks to the timely intervention of Sri Iyer !
I do remember at least two occasions when he wrote to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, both during and after his presidential tenure, and he got the answers very next morning. Once I could even meet him only due to the letter of Justice Iyer.
When CPM-RSS clashes took precious life of 3 or 4 youths in Thalasserry in March 2008, myself and my senior colleague Sri KG Venugopal met Sri Iyer at his residence and sought his intervention to avert further bloodbath. No surprise, he was already in touch the then home minister Sri Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. His only demand before me was a communication with RSS state leadership which I could provide the same moment. As soon as RSS state leader called him, the first thing he did was the facilitation of a CPM-RSS leadership meeting to stop the fatal clashes. The very next moment I got his call. “Thank you, God bless you. RSS leader called me back. Meeting will take place immediately. Now, we are going to achieve peace in Thalassery” were the rejoicing words of this super mediator. When ungratefulness is the characteristic of the public life these days, here is a man of humanness, thankfulness and heart which is as soft as rose petals.
Failing health and poor eye sight do not deter him from his social contacts even at 99. Until two years back Sri Iyer’s evening walk in the DH Grounds, Ernakulam, was a part of the daily sunset. Prof Sanoo and Dr CK Ramachandran were his constant companions in these walks. Now, he has confined his evening outing to his visit to the main entrance of the Ernakulam Shiva temple and pray from there. But, he tries to address every programme he is invited to. And, speech he delivers is always timely, simple but sticking on to the set theme.
My journalistic ambitions have bothered him several times. But, despite his tight schedules and poor health, I used to get his e-mail inputs within minutes. That sort of well-connected status has given me lot of dividends.
Really, am thankful to Sri Iyer for his perennial service to the mankind. I love to shout on top of my voice that ‘here is a man; real man; man with difference’. May I take this opportunity to reproduce what RSS chief Dr. Mohan Bhagavath told Justice Iyer when the former visited him on the October 21, 2013: “According to Bharathiya tradition, complete life is 120 years. We wish you a long life like that”. Yes, the country and the humanity are badly in need of Justice VR Krisha Iyer’s long life, healthy life !
T. Satisan
Journalist
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Regards,
T.S,
The Sunday Indian
http://www.thesundayindian.com
http://www.thesundayindian.com/malayalam
http://flexiblebloke.blogspot.com/
--
Regards,
T.S,
The Sunday Indian
http://www.thesundayindian.com
http://www.thesundayindian.com/malayalam
http://flexiblebloke.blogspot.com/
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