Revisiting Nanda’s Message of Simplicity and Ethical Character on his 125th birth anniversary.

 Revisiting Nanda’s Message of Simplicity and Ethical Character on his 125^th birth anniversary.

It can often seem that corruption is but a natural characteristic of our political system – we often hear stories about how the practice of “baksheesh” has been part of South Asian culture for generations. On Gulzarilal Nanda’s 125^th birth anniversary on July 4, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the conduct of leaders like him that would prove otherwise.

Gulzarilal Nanda acted as interim Prime Minister of India on two occasions – following the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and that of Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966. He was a man of unflinching integrity who always believed in simple living and nurtured genuine concern for the poor and the downtrodden. Some of the glimpses from Nanda’s life that I was privy to seem almost unbelievable in the present day. Gulzarilal Nanda always practiced values-based politics and fought relentlessly against corruption in all its forms.

Nanda’s focus on a simple, even austere, lifestyle showed even in his choice of food: his usual morning routine would see him eating one chapati with curd, while the evening was generally a single chapati accompanied by a glass of milk and a spoon or two of honey. He would often narrate the benefits of having honey with curd and milk.

One day when my father Dharambir Sabharwal saw Nanda having his evening meals with shakkar (raw sugar) instead of honey, he enquired from Nanda’s secretary about the change. The secretary disclosed that Nanda did not have enough money to buy honey, so he had resorted to using raw sugar instead. My father scolded the secretary for not letting him know about this, as he would gladly have sent over a bottle of honey. The secretary responded by saying that he had himself offered to buy honey from his own pocket, but that Nanda had flatly refused the offer.

Gulzarilal Nanda had a special interest in cow welfare. He resigned from the post of Union Home Minister following a lathi-charge on sadhus agitating for the cause of cow protection. After shifting to Kurukshetra, Nanda set up a cow shelter or gaushala and invited Maa Anandmayi to lay its foundation stone. My father Dharambir Sabharwal was chairman of the committee set up to look after this gaushala. Nanda mobilised funds for the gaushala by personally collecting donations from the public. Once, when Nanda could not garner Rupees Twenty Thousand for the repair of a tractor of the gaushala, he requested his son Narinder, residing overseas, to contribute money for this purpose – even though he would never ask for any monetary help from his children for himself.

Nanda worked for the welfare of the labour class during the freedom struggle in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. After Independence, he represented the Ahmedabad Lok Sabha constituency but shifted to Kaithal (later named Kurukshetra) in Haryana, in 1967. After winning the election from Kaithal, he made the historic and religious town of Kurukshetra his karam bhoomi.

Nanda died in 1998 at the age of 99 years in Ahmedabad. He was cremated on the banks of Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, while his Samadhi was built on the eastern part of the holy Brahma Sarovar in Kurukshetra by bringing his ashes to his karam Bhoomi, on the insistence of then Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal. Later, on his 100^th birth anniversary, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and other dignitaries including Haryana Governor Mahavir Prasad and Chief Minister Bansi Lal, laid the foundation stone of a memorial, named Sadachar Sthal, in memory of Bharat Rattan Gulzarilal Nanda who throughout his life had emphasised the need for imbibing good moral values.

A Havan Yajana was performed today at the ‘Sadachar Sthal’ to mark the 125 th birthday of Nanda ji in which a number of dignitaries including Swami Gyana Nand Ji, Maharaj, Swami Hari om Dass Parivachak. Thanesar MLA Subhash Sudha, Kurukshetra Vice-Chancellor, Som Nath Sachdeva. Chairman Haryana Animal husbandry Dharamvir Mirjapur, KDB Hounrary Secretary Upender Singhal, former KDB Hon Secretary Madan Mohan Chhabra, former Deputy Commissioner, Kurukshetra, RR Langyan. From Delh Pankaj Malhotra, Prof. Shuchismiti Sharma, senior journalist cum social activist Krishan Dhamija, and Nanda’s old associate Rajinder Bhargawa, offered ‘puran ahuti’ in the yajana, and then flowers at Nanda’s ‘samadhi’.

After ‘bhajan’ by singers from the music department of Kurukshetra all the dignitaries, including this writer, remembered Nanda ji by speaking on the various aspects of his political career, religious, and simple living.

Bharat Ratna Nanda ji worked in his life for the upliftment of the backward, poor and downtrodden as well as the needy people of the society. Gita Manishi Swami Gyananand Ji Maharaj expressed this idea on Tuesday as the chief guest at the 125^th birth anniversary celebrations of Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda organized under the joint aegis of Bharat Ratna Late Gulzari Lal Nanda, Center for Ethics and Philosophy Kurukshetra University and Kurukshetra Development Board. Swami Gyananand said that just as a tree should never forget its origin i.e. root, similarly  Gulzari Lal Nanda ji will always be remembered in the restoration and rebuilding of pilgrimage sites in Kurukshetra. He did commendable work of taking Kurukshetra to the global level..

Thanesar MLA Subhash Sudha as a special guest said that the development of Kurukshetra was always the priority of former Prime Minister Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda. He further said that a small museum should be built by the university administration at Sadachara Sthal in memory of the three social workers who worked with Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda ji—late Dharambir Sabharwal, late Devi Dayal Nanha and late Shanti Swaroop Sharma,. Whatever budget will be spent for this small museum, we will bear that budget.

Professor Som Nath Sachdeva, Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, while presiding over the program, said that Bharat Ratna Late Gulzari Lal Nanda had planted a sapling in Kurukshetra in the form of AYUSH University, which would soon be made grand by the efforts of Chief Minister and MLA Subhash Sudha.  Prof. Som Nath said that Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda did the work of creating employment for the labourers and also made laws. KU has also established Employment Generation Center at Nanda Ji Kendra so that maximum employment can be made available to the youth. He said that 37 crore youth is the strength of India and youth will be made employable through self-employment. Kurukshetra University is continuously working to inspire the young generation from the life of Nanda ji. He said that seminars based on the life of Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda as well as other competitions will continue to be organized at Sadachar Sthal in the coming times.

Pankaj Malhotra, the adopted son of Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda said that Bharat Ratna late Gulzari Lal Nanda made Haryana his workplace and contributed significantly to develop Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra Geeta Sthali. KDB's Honorary Secretary Upendra Singhal said that the inclusion of Brahmasarovar in the country's 30 iconic sites has already been announced. Now in the next few days, the development work of Brahmsarovar will be started by signing MoU with IOCand  on Iconic Sites and this work will be completed within a year. Social worker Vijay Sabharwal also shared his personal experiences of the days spent with Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda ji.

Earlier Geeta Manishi Swami Gyananand Maharaj, MLA Subhash Sudha, Vice Chancellor Prof. Som Nath Sachdeva, Prof. Shuchismita, Chairman of Haryana Livestock and Dairy Development Corporation Dharamveer Mirzapur, KDB Honorary Secretary Upendra Singhal, Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda's adopted son Pankaj Malhotra, Former Honorary Secretary Madan Mohan Chhabra, Social worker Vijay Sabharwal, Social worker Krishna Dhamija, Vinod Sharma, Swami Hariom Parivrajak, Retd IAS Dr. RB Langyan, Incharge of Nanda Memorial Dr. Lalit Goud, Deputy Director of Public Relations Department Dr. Deepak Rai Babbar, Dr. Vivek Chawla paid floral tributes at the memorial of Late Gulzari Lal Nanda. Along with this, everyone offered oblations by chanting mantras in the Havan Yagya organized at Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda Kendra. On this occasion, the students who won the speech and painting competition on Nanda ji were rewarded by all the dignitaries.

Vijay Sabharwal