My Country My Life- Advani Launches His Memoir

The stage was set on the 25th afternoon to receive L. K. Advani at a city bookstore for the launch of his autobiography. Social butterflies on thaw flitted around giddily excited at the importance of the occasion. There was ample talk about who is or not invited to the dinner later, what the publisher has got right or otherwise, how the Oberoi would have been a far better venue etc. but what united the self-proclaimed elite crowd was a much flaunted disregard for the majority at the book launch- clubbed under a broad suspect group called the media. The latter for its part, did what they could - exploit their ‘scheduled caste’ status to the hilt, push, shove and get their job done.
Amidst the near hilarious chaos the man of the moment walked in and took his seat. As all attention effortlessly shifted to him, over the next hour he spoke about why he wrote the book, what he sees for India ahead in time and some related anecdotes therein.
A lot is being said about how rare it is in India for an active politician to publish his memoirs. And Advani is not just active - he is the leader of the opposition and the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA in what is being widely perceived as a possible election year. Aside from inviting controversies galore, the book is bound to influence his chances for the big post. But then, Advani is synonymous with dynamism, individualistic acts of faith (no pun intended) and some well-calculated gambles beneath it all.
Only, it was hard to spot the seasoned politician in the man who sat on the dais. He was warm, witty and brief. What he spoke came from his conviction. His belief and pride in his country could move a cynic. Clearly he is one of the last remaining leaders in India who has at least partly been spurred by ideology, its merits aside. His persona as a happy man not confused by the current anarchy of vote -bank politics; as a thinking man’s politician still sensitive to ideas, was towering. As a precious legacy of this nation and as an insightful participant in its history he made an endearing impression.
Then came the final question of the day from an “admirer”- the one about Gujarat. Advani said that Modi’s ‘raj’ is ‘su-raj, the correct successor of ‘swaraj’ and that good governance had won the latter another election. He brazenly refrained from commenting on the massacre sections of this country are struggling to forget and the conference was called to an end. If you wanted to believe he could not possibly have condoned it, you would have to look elsewhere.
Earlier in the afternoon he had spoken of the essential conflict between happiness and meaning in life. Happiness lies in living in the moment; for meaning one must re-inhabit the past and contextualize the future. Happiness that afternoon lay in inheriting our past from a very grand old man without wondering how it might have been different.