Once, we were talking about the growing support for the Sangh. Suriji said, “Do not stay complacent with growing support for Sangh, but do remember that our accountability is also growing”
U Sundar
Suriji often insisted to follow even the smallest of instructions as a rule in the Sangh, irrespective of the stature of karyakarta in the organisation. For example, if a Bauddhik is allocated 40 minutes, it has to be completed in 40 minutes, no minute more-no minute less.
Suriji put forward a proposal that karyakartas above 75 years of age should not hold any office in the Sangh but can work for the Sangh till last breath. He walked his talk by guiding others in the RSS till his demise. Though he could not be physically active in his last days, he mentored young swayamsevaks through his writings. Two years ago, when the occasion of 150th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda was celebrated, he authored 4-5 books.
Suriji not just saw things but fully observed. Some years ago, he came to Chidambaram Town for a programme. His stay and baithak was arranged in the terrace room of a house. That room was unused for several days, so we cleaned the room and kept the windows open for ventilation. Then we went to Mayavaram and upon our return to Cuddalore, we had to pass through Chidambaram Town. Since the house he stayed in Chidambaram was on the Main Road, he glanced the house while passing by in our car. He noticed a open window in the house. He said, “What ji, the window is kept open? Shouldn’t we handover the place in order as it was given to us.”
We had arranged for a grand event in Chennai when former Sarsanghachalak Shri Rajju Bhaiya participated. There were a lot of celebrities for the event. The participating adhikaris came to the stage through the left side entrance. But the stairs were on the right side. Also, the hand rails were missing in the stairs. Suriji said pointing out this flaw, “Shouldn’t we have hand rails for stairs, especially when elders are there in this programme? It is not done if the event is done in grandeur, but the arrangements need to be flawless”.
The suburban stations at Arakkonam and Tiruvallur were built in 1984. We had gone for a visit there along with Suruji. He did a mental calculation of the estimate required to build that station house. He went into
the coach and said “It is two times more the width required for a normal broad gauge coach” Such was his shrewdness.
He was adept at making the right pitch according the type of crowd he addressed. Everyone used to get astonished at his usage of powerful words. Time used to slip under our knees when he talked about Veer Savarkar, Swami Vivekananda, Shri Guruji and 1947 Partition.
Once, we were talking about the growing support for the Sangh. Suriji said, “Do not stay complacent with growing support for Sangh, but do remember our accountability is also growing”.
He was very particular about punctuality for any programme. Once we travelled from Salem to Vriddhachalam, made an overnight stay and then left for the programme in Cuddalore, next morning. Suruji was Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh at that time, one of the highest offices in Sangh. Myself as Zilla Pracharak and our Vibhagh Pracharak were accompanying him to the bus stand. The first bus to Cuddalore was in shambles, so we decided to take the next bus. At last we arrived half an hour late for the Cuddalore programme. Suriji smirked “I had to take this second bus, as per you elders advice. Had we caught the first one, we would have arrived on time for the programe. In my early days as a Pracharak, I lost Rs.100. I accounted it as money lost. It went to Suriji’s audit. He advised, “We should place our money safely and not give an opportunity for others to steal it.” n
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