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Milchar
October-December 2002 issue
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House Boats on Dal
Lake in Srinagar. Credit for introducing
House Boats in Kashmir goes to Pt. Narain Das, father of Swami Laxman ji.
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Sweet
& Sour
Thoughts
- At a Funeral
... Tribhuwan N. Bhan
 The
patriarch of a corporate sector in India Mr. Dhirubhai H. Ambani breathed
his last on 7th July 2002. During his funeral the next day, I tried to
have a glimpse of his mortal remains but failed to do so, as there were
over 25000 mourners and I could not physically jostle myself through the
huge crowd. So I decided to come home and watch the funeral on the small
screen. While watching the funeral of Mr. Ambani on TV, my mind went racing
back to February- March 1961, when with about 30 more persons, I attended
the funeral at Chandanwadi, of Hari Singh, Ex. Maharaja of Jammu &
Kashmir state. Here I was watching on TV, the funeral of a man who came
from an unknown village, Churwad of Gujarat and rose to become a business
tycoon. His funeral was one befitting an emperor. Simultaneously, in a
flash, the scene of the other funeral I attended in 1961, came across my
mind, when an ex-ruler of an Indian state had the funeral of a commoner.
From Rs. 500/- Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani created
the empire of Reliance Industries worth Rs. 65000 Crores at present. He
was a visionary who achieved the impossible through hard work, dedication
and singleness of purpose. Though he had not received any formal education
in Economics or Commerce, he proved to be a genius in the field of "Business
Administration' and a financial wizard. Thus he became a legend in his
own lifetime.
It was my destiny to be present at the
funeral of one-time ruler of J&K State, stand just few feet away from
his mortal remains, gaze at the same endlessly, and then after a gap of
four decades to witness the last journey of the doyen of Industrial advancement
in our country. Comparisons are odious and unhealthy, but at times like
these any person, who is aware of facts and figures realizes that a ruler
left a truncated and fragmented state as a legacy, which has proved to
be a problem not only for our country but also for the whole world. In
contrast, a commoner has left behind an industrial empire as his legacy
not only for his family but also for the entire nation. Thus I draw a conclusion
that nothing is everlasting, neither the glitter and grandeur of royalty
nor the pain and pangs of poverty. Whatever one may inherit, or create,
remains here on this planet. One departs from this world empty handed,
when one leaves for his ultimate abode. What matters most is the impression
one has carved out in the minds of the people according to his deeds or
misdeeds, during his lifetime.
Thus one is judged not by who you are,
but what you do.
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