An Extraordinary Life stands out because of the main protagonist, Manohar Parrikar. He reminds the readers of a super-hero character from the Hindi movies, writes Kumar Chellappan

Name: AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE: A Biography of Manohar Parrikar

Publisher: Penguin, Rs 499

It was on a Friday (to be precise, on November 13, 2015) that I met Manohar Parrikar, the country’s defence minister for the first and last time. He flew into the Indian Naval Station Rajali, around 80 km south of Chennai by a Boeing Poseidon-8 India (Boeing P-80I) the country’s newly acquired Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft, described as the country’s eyes and ears up in the air.

As he strode into the auditorium, I could feel the powerful aura of elegance associated with him. It was for the induction into service of the eight aircraft, each procured at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore he flew down to Rajali despite the heavy rains and winds that tormented northern Tamil Nadu on that Friday.

The induction ceremony was as simple as the chief guest. There was no big speech or show. The minister unveiled a plaque installed on the side of the 4.9 km long runway and he was presented with a memento by Admiral Dhowan, the then chief of naval staff.

Before embarking the aircraft for his onward journey to New Delhi, the minister was surrounded by journalists for some possible ‘bytes’. All were asking him about the One Rank One Pension controversy generated by a section of ex-servicemen who had accused the government with going back on the promise. Some of them had threatened to return the medals they received from the Government for their meritorious services to the nation. And some had even burnt the medals and ribbons!

“Returning the medals and burning the medals are like insulting the nation. Medals are a recognition of bravery, for the service to the nation. It has nothing to do with service conditions whereas OROP is with service conditions. It does not say you are entitled for medals,” Parrikar replied. He declined to comment when asked whether the continuing agitation has some political motives. “It is for those who are agitating to prove that it is not politically motivated. Let them prove it themselves,” said the minister. When he was about to leave, I asked him about his two hour long journey in the Poseidon 80-I from Andamans to Arkkonam and also about the possibilities of the revival of Durand Cup Football Championship hosted by the Indian Army .

The word football literally ‘threw him out of balance’. “Well, I’ll answer your question on football first. I’ll definitely and seriously look into how to promote Durand Cup Football tournament. It is Asia’s oldest and world’s third oldest championship and it is our responsibility to revive it,” he said.

To convince me about his seriousness, Parrikar told me that he was passionate about football. “Do you know that I myself was a football player and have played in all levels of the games. Goans are passionate about the game. It was during my first tenure as chief minister I declared football as Goa’s official game. We have village level tournaments as well as league matches featuring big time clubs. I had played the game even while I was pursing my studies in IIT Bombay. It was because of an injury, I had to hang my boots so early,” he opened up. The enthusiasm and energy when he spoke of football had to be seen to believe. And that too from the country’s defence minister.

It was another thing that politics took the front seat as he had to return to Panaji as chief minister of Goa. Manohar Parrikar looked so healthy and energetic on that Friday in 2015 and nobody would have imagined even in their wildest dreams he had some medical issues which would snuff out that life so soon.

Manohar Parrikar was the first BJP chief minister of Goa and also the tenth chief minister of the State. Pramod Sawant, the present Chief Minister is the 13th to occupy the gaddi. Nobody has bothered to write the biographies of the other 12 chief ministers while two young journalists, Sadguru Patil and Mayabhushan Nagvenkar selected Manohar Parrikar as their subject speaks volumes about the greatness and uniqueness of the man.

For people from Goa, Parrikar is a swayamsevak (volunteer) of the RSS, a B Tech graduate from IIT Bombay in metallurgical engineering (an important and tough branch of technology) and a BJP worker. The authors, who have interviewed or interacted with Parrikar more than 20 times during his tenure as leader of the opposition and chief minister, had to walk a tight rope to convince the world about their neutrality and impartiality while writing about the life and times of a Sangh Parivar man. They have succeeded in it because they have left no stones unturned while writing about Parrikar.

The authors while introducing Parrikar to the readers said that he had to settle for metallurgy engineering in IIT, ‘ranked low in the elite institution’s flaunting order compared to other branches of engineering’. Metallurgy engineering was a topic very much in demand in those days because the country’s nuclear and space programmes and the flourishing metal industries were on the prowl for graduates in metallurgy.

How Parrikar single-handedly built the BJP into a powerful force in Goa politics is interesting. A small state dominated by the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party and the Congress had to yield space to the Hindutwa politics only because of the kind of work done by Parrikar and associates. In a democracy, all political parties should have space to grow, grow fairly. Parrikar has succeeded in developing his political party into a major entity like the manager/coach a soccer team builds a team from scratch to that of a winning combination.

Parrikar as leader of opposition and then as Chief Minister were two different personalities, charge the authors. Since I am not familiar with Goan politics, let me stay away from that controversy. But how many politicians are there in India who fight corruption with the same dedication with which they fight the system while in the Opposition? What happened to the 2G Spectrum, Coal Gate, Commonwealth Games scam, National Herald scam, Bofors scam and a host of other such cases? The prime suspects are still seen in TV channels and parliamentary debates cocking a snook at the millions. This is India that is Bharat.

But why didn’t Goans take up violation of court orders, if any, in the mining licence and casino issues have been left untold. It definitely would have added to the value of the book. These instances are also parts of the folklore associated with Goa and Parrikar. Similarly, the authors’ criticism in Parrikar surrounding himself with persons from the GSB community to which he belonged sounded out of place. I have seen how ministers belonging to the Dravidian parties appoint only members from their caste in their personal staff. Same is the case with Muslim League, Kerala Congress leaders in my home state! The only difference is that casteism in Kerala is not severe as it is in TN!

“An Extraordinary Life” stands out only because of the main protagonist, Manohar Parrikar. He reminds the readers about characters in Hindi movies, who succumb to fate which claims their lives in the form of cancer or villains’ gun shots. This Parrikar was a Manohar person.