The man was a mission, HV Seshadri

[Guest guest]

The man was a mission

 

S Gurumurthy

 

Aug 17, 2005 The Daily Pioneer

 

 

He shaped many leaders but his name will not figure among

those 'known'

as leaders. He was a thinker but will not be among those who are

'known' as thinkers. He was an intellectual. But his name will not

be in the

list of 'known' intellectuals. He was a writer but will not be among

the 'known' writers.

 

He was HV Seshadri, the former general secretary of the BJP, and one

of

the tallest leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was

little known to the outside world as what he was because he did not

think, write, or lead others to be 'known'. He wrote books to shape

men

who would make the country strong, not to make himself popular. He

toured ceaselessly and met hundreds of thousands of people to

strengthen the motherland, not to become popular or build a vote-bank

for himself.

His demise provided the context for the first news item about him as

a

person to appear in the media. But even that courtesy is because he

belonged to the RSS which is well-known.

 

In fact, like many of his colleagues and seniors in the organisation,

Seshadri shunned popularity by design. He knew the limitation and

risks

of popularity. When Mahatma Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation

movement, and a BBC correspondent asked him what did he think of the

general perception that his popularity had waned, the Mahatma

replied,

"Popularity comes without invitation and goes without farewell." So

superior minds like Seshadri knew how transient popularity is and how

debilitating it is to chase it.

 

But even though he knew the limitations of popularity, he worked to

produce popular leaders, because popular leaders are needed to lead

and

run the country. The only difference was that they should be popular

leaders, not popularity-seekers. Only persons who do not seek

popularity, who actually shun popularity, can produce and inspire

popular leaders and guide them.

 

It is not easy to manage popularity. To become popular is easier than

remaining popular. This is where a popular leader needs the lead of

someone who is least known. Chandragupta was known, but little detail

is known about his mentor, Kautilya. Chhatrapati Shivaji is popular

in

history books but not the saint Ramdas who shaped him. This is the

rishi-raj tradition of this ancient country. So we had had known

rulers

ruling and unknown rishis guiding them. Seshadri belonged to the

rishi

tradition.

 

But Seshadri knew that leaders alone cannot make the country. When

someone said "Great is a country that has heroes," Galileo responded

by

saying, "Greater is a country that does not need heroes." Seshadri

strove for a nation that does not need heroes. To dispense with the

need for heroes is a stupendous task. Only a country that has highly

evolved

and patriotic men and women can dispense with the need for heroes.

This

is precisely what Seshadri worked for. This is the task which Swami

Vivekanand described in his lecture on My Plan of Campaign in Chennai

after he returned from America as 'man-making' mission. It is this

mission which he believed was equally a nation-building task.

 

So the twin and sequential mission of man-making and nation-building

became the fundamental work the RSS. This self-effacing objective

became the life mission of Seshadri. He joins the immortal but

popularly

unknown category of great men and women who have lived and worked for

this ancient land of rishis and munis without asking for anything in

return. Seshadri follows the tradition of his mission where the

mission

alone is known, but not the missionary. The name of the RSS is

popularly known, but not the name of its founder even. This is the

tradition to

which Seshadri belongs, and this is the tradition into which he has

merged.

 

Seshadri, like many in the tradition of rishis, became part of the

foundation of this ancient nation, lying below the plinth and

supporting the tower of the temple of Mother India. Thus disappears

one more

soldier in the cause of Bharatmata into her lap. The man who built

many

men with capital 'M' who lead different public domain of this vast

nation of one-sixth of humanity, is no more. Seshadri was born for a

mission and lived his whole life for the service of the mission till

his fragile body which he over-worked gave way at age 80.

 

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