Shattering all hopes and ignoring all prayers Pramod Mahajan passed away. He had been waging a relentless battle for life for 12 days. All his well-wishers, relatives and countless activists across the country used to anxiously look forward to hearing the latest information about his condition from the doctors. Information about the slightest improvement in his condition used to spiral their hopes sky-high. They used to pray to God for his complete recovery. But God willed otherwise.
It pains our heart even more when we realise that his nemesis was none else but his own brother whom he nurtured like his own son since the age of 5, educated him, married him off, settled him well and provided everything for his smooth living. Who knows this enmity belonged to which birth!
Anyway, we are faced with the crude fact that Shri Pramod Mahajan is no longer with us, only his fond memories are. An ever-smiling, dynamic, affable leader who made an indelible imprint on the polity of the nation through his organisational skills and political pragmatism today remains only in our memories.
I met him for the first time in Indore during the tricentenary celebrations of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji. I noticed his eminent oratorial skills then. Later we met on many occasions. The last time we met was in Nagpur on February 24 at the Guruji Birth Centenary inauguration programme. He came there accompanying Shri Atalji. Shri Atalji came with the prior condition that he would not speak. But when requested to read a poem he consented. Pramodji brought the poem along with him.
I pay my humble homage to the multi-faceted genius Pramodji and pray to God that his immediate family as well as his friends, well-wishers and activists all over be granted the strength to bear this huge loss.
