‘Singhvi had a problem, he couldn’t say no’

My personal relationship with L M Singhvi spanned 45 years. We first become friends in 1962.

My personal relationship with L M Singhvi spanned 45 years. We first become friends in 1962. That year he was elected to Lok Sabha from Jodhpur. In his professional, social and personal lives, what was common was his expanse. One may not have agreed with some of his ways of doing things, but one could not disregard his expanse, his outreach to people, his knowledge of the scriptures (he was a scholar of Jainism).

He would say to me, “OP, I don’t want to be just a jurist, or a diplomat. I want to live life to the maximum.” He lived life to the brim. Even till a week ago, when he was in hospital, he mentioned a new book he wanted to read.

Singhvi had a problem, he couldn’t say no. It got him into odd situations. But he also enjoyed it and the expanse it gave his life. He had a capacity to create a synergy, to synthesise one and many. Connected to this was his civility. He was a great gentleman. He was nice to people who didn’t agree with him, he didn’t make enemies.

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I saw him closely as a jurist, a diplomat, a parliamentarian, and as a father, husband and son. I’ve seen him when his mother was alive. In the late evening he would sit at her bedside and press her feet. He was a great husband to Kamlaji and look how he groomed his son, Abhishek.

As a friend, he was caring and giving, and I looked up to him as a mentor. It was only when I celebrated my 60th birthday that I realised he was three years younger to me.

When he was High Commissioner to Britain, he expanded the scope of diplomacy. He had a rapport with the royal family, and would discuss Indian philosophy with Prince Charles. I remember one or two journalists asking why Singhvi keeps planting trees in London.

But he reached out to all kinds of people. He presented 150 small statues of Gandhiji to different universities there. Every Indian in Britain knew him.

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In fact, when his name was announced for the post (High Commissioner to Britain), he talked to me about it, whether he should go or not. He said, I will not go because I have been asked by a single party (Chandra Shekhar’s). He spoke to Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and I K Gujral. He was that kind of a consensus person.

In art and culture, the depth of his knowledge was immeasurable. When Sanskriti was being set up — Singhvi was on the board of trustees of the Foundation — he would tell me what the word means, its deeper meaning. It was because of his love for Hindi that he suffered. A few months ago he’d had an angioplasty, but still insisted on attending a Hindi conference in the US. After that his health was really in trouble.

It was this passion that could sometimes be misunderstood by people who said he did too many things. But he lived life to the brim.

O.P. Jain is founder-president of Sanskriti