Higher is not humbler

Somnath Chatterjee, Honourable Speaker of the Lok Sabha, said that he wouldn’t attend a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting at Canberra because the Australians have told him in very clear terms that they are not going to bend airport security rules to let him in (IE, April 8). He justified his stand with the argument, ‘‘My country’s prestige is at stake and I don’t want to compromise on it. As Speaker of the Lok Sabha which represents the world’s largest democracy, if I am not trusted in any of the countries, then I should not go there.’’

Instantly my brain cells make weird connections, bringing to mind an anecdote from the life of C. Rajagopalchari. He was then the Governor-General of India. He was heading towards the venue of a function in an official car. The vehicle neared a manned railway gate that was closed. The driver ran across to tell the gateman to raise the gates for just a minute or two to enable the Governor-General’s car to get across. The gateman said he could not do that. ‘‘Not even for the sake of the Governor-General’’, the driver glowered. ‘‘No, sir, I go by the rules.’’ The driver went back to complain. Rajaji heard him out and said that the gateman deserved to be congratulated for not being awed by VIP demands. Later, he sent a letter of commendation to the gateman.

Another time. Another man. B.N. Mullick, then Director of the Intelligence Bureau, (DIB), arrived at the gates of South Block where he had his office. The sentry at the gate saluted him, waited for him to show his identity card. Alas! The officer hadn’t brought it along. ‘‘Don’t you know who he is?’’ an aide, who was with the DIB, asked the sentry. ‘‘I know, sir. He is the DIB,’’ the sentry stood ramrod straight and added, ‘‘I also know I can’t let anyone in unless he shows his identity card.’’ The aide turned red with rage, but before he could scream at the sentry, Mullick applauded the sentry and said he would wait while the aide would go back and get his identity card.

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I also remember President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam joining the tail end of a queue and waiting patiently for his turn to exercise the right to vote during the last Lok Sabha elections.

Set against these events, the Speaker’s remarks strike discordant notes. May be this discordance has its roots in the Indian tradition that expects that the higher one goes, the humbler he should be. That it is only when the leaders observe the rules that the common man will be enthused to observe them.