Upward Graph

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Sushilkumar Shinde's career graph shows a remarkable upward movement. He is among those politicians who have never needed to look back. Another endearing asset is that he is not tarnished by any scandal. Of course, his life has had its ups and downs but never has he been away from the centre of things. And the most interesting facet of his is a sense of loss he has left behind whenever he has demitted any office - it a ministership, including the post of Chief Minister, or governorship. People who worked with and for Sushilkumar Shinde for any duration aver that he is the ideal boss. Punctuality, punctiliousness, promptness and philanthropy have been the cornerstones of his success. Sushilkumar Shinde says these have been instilled into him by the situation, his ultimate Guru. But for his mother, he does not have any other mentor. He has watched, studied and emulated the great men and women who influenced his life from his early childhood. Each of them left an individual imprint on his impressionable mind. Like a honeybee, Sushilkumar Shinde, too, went on acquiring the elements of etiquette, knowledge and statecraft from each of them.

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He learnt to discard whatever he deemed unwanted and cultivated what he felt he lacked. His maturity in later years and his unflinching loyalty to the cause are the outcomes of this long process, spanning more than three and a half decades. Nonetheless, he himself is amazed by the twists and turns his life has taken. Never one to feel depressed - though some of the developments pushed him almost to the brink of giving up public life - Sushilkumar Shinde gathered himself very fast and always looked to the future. 'Forget and forgive' has remained the creed of his life. That is the reason he has hardly any enemy in any arena. Even his electoral opponents admit that it is not able to defeat Sushilkumar Shinde. Such is his charisma.

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Avoiding the Limelight

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Paradoxically, though he is among the best-known politicians of India, Sushilkumar Shinde has always remained slightly away from the limelight, except for the occasional glare. Half a dozen books have appeared on him and he has written a few himself, but Sushilkumar Shinde has not generated the type of media coverage lesser souls have captured. The obvious explanation for this is that he does not cherish self-promotion through publicity. A couple of documentaries have been made by leading television channels on him but even today, most people have known him only as a political leader and not the decent human being that he is. True, he is like a family member for many people in Solapur. They rush to him for help whenever they face any little difficulty and Shinde's followers solve most of their problems. But beyond Solapur in particular and Maharashtra in general, the only public profile Shinde possesses is that he is a Dalit who has surmounted many challenges. Otherwise, not much is known about Sushilkumar Shinde's life is so full of dramatic events and so many people have come into close contact with him that it will be virtually impossible for one biographer to compress all the details in one book. In a way, Sushilkumar Shinde himself is responsible for this dilemma. His life has many pigeonholes, each overflowing with many secrets. And he generally avoids discussing one person with another even when both know each other. Nobody can really claim to know how many friends he has, in how many places and countries. Similarly, it is not possible to keep a count of the people he must have obliged over the years. Almost every time I meet him, I see a new face hovering around and I wonder if he has a new association. Interestingly, it invariably turns out that Sushilkumar Shinde has had a long association with that person.

 

Urge to Excel

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For instance, one of the new faces he introduced to me just as I had nearly finished writing this book was the son of his tailor of more than 30 years. After his father expired, the son has continued to serve Sushilkumar Shinde with the same devotion. The famous tale of the elephant and seven blind men come alive for each visitor in Sushilkumar Shinde's company. Everybody experiences a different shape and guesses a different object, to the great amusement of the onlookers who are in quest of truth. Shinde radiates the same 'manyness• to all who come in contact with him. The adage that the right-hand does know what the left is doing fits him like a glove. An even greater quality of the man his reticence. He will never reveal to others what he has done for someone nor he makes the obliged person feel indebted. This human virtue is perhaps Sushilkumar Shinde's mainstay for the love and admiration he has earned in public life but it is certainly not the only one. He is a man of many parts and facets. Everyone views him differently and is smug in believing that he alone has understood the real Sushilkumar Shinde.

 

This is the life story of Sushil Kumar Shinde. a truly remarkable man and above all, a gentleman in politics. Of course, it does not claim to be about him. but is a sincere attempt to understand the complex process which has enabled a struggling child to rise to high positions in India by dint of determination and a constant urge to excel. The success of Sushilkumar Shinde is a tribute to Indian democracy as much as to his indomitable spirit.

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