Amitaabh Srivastava : When in the late 50’s tragedy king Dileep Kumar was playing a factory worker turned trade Union leader in film Paigham (the title song Yehi Paigham Hamara, apparently favorite of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal), he would research about the behavior, the attitude of a trade union leader to bring depth and authenticity in the character. On one such occasion he went to attend a meeting of labour leaders in Mumbai. He was particularly impressed by the man who presided over the meeting and gave a very charged speech. In his own words,” the way he delivered his speech was quite impressive. I came away with one point: a firebrand leader will always attack even if he doesn’t have a case.’
The trade union leader that the great thespian spoke about so fondly was none other than George Fernandes. Such was the charisma of George Fernandes. He could captivate audiences with his fiery speeches in simple but impressive language and always well fitted with facts and data to support arguments. Dileep Kumar’s appreciation about George shows what a firebrand leader he has been, who even in the late 50’s during his formative years could command as a leader and capture the attention of people.
For a generation grown up on social media platforms, George may be an irrelevant, forgotten less known leader, but those who have seen him around with his characteristic smile, the rebellious, bohemian attitude, the outspoken nature , t he guts to grapple with difficult situations will be hard to forget. George is undoubtedly among the most popular and most controversial political figures in the post emergency era.
Today, on 3rd June as George Fernandes grows one year older , while wishing him well on his birthday one feels sad for his absence from public life and politics as he battles with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases , pushed into loneliness by strange quirk of fate where remains confined to himself , surrounded by an unspeakable, inexplicable solitude.
पत्रकार अमिताभ श्रीवास्तव के फेसबुक वॉल से.
