by Shriniwas Joshi, (Retd. I.A.S.)
On every birth anniversary of the greatest son of Himachal Pradesh, tributes are paid to him for his immense contribution to the State which, today, is a forerunner among its counterparts. I am remembering the events which I, directly or indirectly, shared with the man called Yashwant Singh Parmar who was born at Chanhalag village of Sirmur district (then a princely State) on 4th of August, 1906 to Bhandari Shivanand Singh and Lakshmi Devi. He completed his secondary education at Nahan, took his Bachelor’s degree from
FC College, Lahore, Master’s from Canning College, Lucknow and with a thesis on ‘The Social and Economic Background of Himalayan Polyandry’ got doctorate from Lucknow University.
My daughter Shaily was studying in Convent of Jesus and Mary in 1972 where both Uma Sinhji (Urmila), daughter of Dr. Parmar, and my wife were teachers. When Uma came to know that Shaily’s birthday also falls on the 4th of August, she made an offer towife that she along with Shaily joins his father in birthday celebrations. My wife agreed. It was a homely affair at Oakover – members of Dr. Parmar’s family and the two Joshi visitors. A cake was in the middle of the room when crawling on his knees and lisping like a child ‘I will cut the cake first’ Dr. Parmar entered there and played with Shaily for quite long. He presented a pictorial book on Swami Vivekananda to her which is her proud possession. True, blessed is childhood, which brings down something of relaxing heaven into the midst of our mundane earthly affairs.
When I was working as District Development and Panchayat Officer (now Assistant Commissioner) in his district Sirmur in 1975, I could feel his awe among the officers and his aura as if he was carrying a halo around him. The State Grievances Committee headed by him was an example of how prepared the officers came to attend it because the man on the chair had pulse of the people in his fingers. In none of the districts, I served later, an equal seriousness was visible.
He was a shrewd politician and practiced the adage, “kill the ascent and the enemy slowly.” So sharp were his political weapons that all his adversaries could not bear their brunt and were first marginalized and then finished. He ran the State as Chief Minister for seventeen years and when he could not stand the command of the unconstitutional authorities of Delhi, he resigned in 1977.
I am reminded of an instance that showed his shrewdness. During Renuka Mela, his PA telephoned to me that the boss wanted that a particular politician was not allotted a room in the Rest House at Renuka. I did so. On the day of festival, he reported the matter to the Chief Minister. The CM was visibly angry and told his PA to find out the officer and make him appear before me. The PA found me and told me to kept the calm when the boss scolded me. I appeared before the CM and he scolded me right-in and right-out and then asked the politician to stay in a hotel because the Rest House was already full.
Kursi till death was not his bid. Hitendra Singh, his political colleague at Nahan, had told me that even after this longish stint, he had only Rs.5000 as savings. I have seen him travelling in a public bus, purchasing vegetable from Sabzi Mandi and walking slowly to his wife Satyavati’s home – The Roots – with the bag of vegetable and fruit suspended on his shoulder.
He was a good walker and when I was posted at Nahan, he went out on a ‘yaatraa’ visiting villages and listening to the grievances of the villagers and settling those there only. The Deputy Commissioner and other officers accompanied him. My directions were to send a car to the CM, if and when he gets tired. The CM walked about 25 kilometres that day, the officers were tired but not the CM. Such was his dedication and commitment also stamina.
His liking for ‘aishkalu’ is known but he also loved fish and fish-cuisine.
I was transferred from Nahan unceremoniously. Dr. Parmar came to Jogindernagar when he was off-chair. I, as SDM, went to the Rest House for a courtesy call. He regretted, “Due to a misinformation, I had transferred you from Nahan. My fault, I am sorry.” Only great generals like Parmar can say that to a petty soldier in the battlefield.
Tailpiece
Before finalizing the statue of Dr. Parmar installed in 1984 on the Ridge, the mannequin made by Sonavadekar was inspected at Mumbai by a five-member Approval Committee. Satyaji, second wife of Dr. Parmar, asked, “Are his lips alright?” I replied, “You are the best judge to know that, Madam” She then was a party to the laughing-five