Passing Away of a Maverick

Last night, mom told me that Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away. I knew about him. He was a famous political leader. A few hours later she got an SMS from my school that it will be a holiday the next day to mourn his demise. I was shocked to hear this and kept on wondering the whole night if it really would be a holiday or my parents were just joking. I had completed my homework and was all prepared for the next day. I had full excitement to take my new bottle to school. And suddenly it was declared no school?

It was an unexpected holiday with no plan or purpose. It was frustrating, and I sulked in a bad mood. Atal Bihari Ji Vajpayee must have wanted India to progress and everyone to succeed, not that everyone stops working when he is gone! It shouldn’t be a holiday. I couldn’t sleep that night.         

Next morning the newspaper was full of information about Atal Bihari Ji Vajpayee. As I was reading it, it became more interesting. I came to know so many things about him.

·         He was the first non-Congress (from BJP) President who completed full five years

·         Pokhran nuclear tests were under his initiative and guidance. Which was indeed a courageous act.

·         He was honoured with Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna which is highest civilian award of the country.

·         He was a known foodie who liked laddos and gol-gappa alike. He had a robust sense of humor which even his opponent cherished.

·         He had no enemies, only friends. L.K.Advani yet another BJP leader who was his best friend.

·         Unimaginably popular orator, emotional poet, and a writer. He wrote books like Vichar Bindu and Amar Aag Hai.

·         He gave a tribute to the nation by building many long highways.

·         He was a great synthesizer player.

·         Some of his beautiful quotes will always be remembered-

“You can change friends but not neighbors.”

But sorrowfully, he died last night. I now felt bad. Vasundra Raje is the CM of Rajasthan, she too is from the BJP. She must have felt bad. People like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from other parties too paid him a tribute. He had no haters.

The nation lost a true leader. I felt a gem was plucked out of the necklace, but then it is always going to be in the purse!

I gained so much knowledge about him through newspaper and internet. If there was no holiday, I couldn’t have probably known so much about him. The unexpected holiday became an opportunity to discover so much about a great personality of our country. 

Although, I still feel that we should be called to the school at least for an hour, and talks and discussions should be made about the personality. That would have been fitting tribute to him. But certainly, I found a great way of utilizing my unexpected holiday. Everything was absolutely amazing. My day had become interesting, informative and useful.

How about you? 

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