It was at the high altitude area, Leh where I was posted in 2005. I was with my family hence did not feel the punch of being alone as the families were permitted at your own expense. We were staying in the area just near the famous ‘Shanti Stupa’, a Buddhist Temple popularly called as Gompa there. Since it was like Delhi of ladakh lot of tourists and VIPs visited the place quiet frequently.
There was one Central Lecture Hall (CLH) near the airport which was utilised for all the important occasions and speeches of VVIPs. It was thus well maintained but simple with the heating arrangements as no coolers were required there due to very low temperature. Even during the peak summers it did not exceed 20 degree Celsius which is what we have in plains during the winters. This was mostly used as a movie theatre for screening of films on the weekends. It had a huge stage in the front just below the big screen and seats down below in ascending heights towards the rear of the theatre. Outside the theatre was a large open space on both the sides and there were no plants as Leh is plain except some vegetation around the riversides in summers. A beautiful lounge was on the side of the theatre for the VVIPs and one behind for the
others where arrangements for the central tea during lecture breaks were usually made.
It was late summers when the winter chill could be felt in the bones, the cold wind blew during the dawn and dusk which forced everyone to wear their jackets and proper winter clothing during that time. This time a visit of a very important VVIP was planned who was none other than Shri Manmohan Singh, the present Prime Minister of India. It was his first visit to this station in his first tenure as a PM so the preparations were also accordingly done.
All the important roads were resurfaced, the route was made spic and span, the buildings adjacent to the route from where he was supposed to visit various places were whitewashed, all the signposts were made new, some painted afresh, the stones on the sides of the road were whitewashed, welcome banners hanged at various places and all the basic minimum decorations done.
The day, 11Jun2005, finally arrived. It was morning of early winters. I started from my house early to be well before time at the CLH. As I reached there in my vehicle I could see many security staff busy in ensuring the safety aspects at the last moment as the Prime Minister’s plane was to arrive shortly within two hours. The vehicles were all lined up distantly from the main venue, the CLH and within about 15 minutes there were hundreds of them lined up as everyone was rushing up to be seated in advance. It was like holiday from office and everyone was preparing for the big show. The administrative personnel were busy checking out last minute layout of tea arrangements for the break, there were many tents decorated in the form of stalls where the various groups of people were standing under it to meet the PM when he was to come out after his speech to meet them. Every big shot like the senior army and police officials were looking like ordinary people like each of us and were moving here and there to ensure the security aspects for their career could be at stake if something went wrong. The signalmen were worried about the performance of their microphones, the engineers were on the tents and the stage which they had made, the mechanical engineers were on the generator; should the lights fail to cater it as standby, the medical team was ready for any emergency just in case and the doctor was time and again checking about the technical items from his assistant, the security officer had his eyes on the sentries located at various important positions which was being cross checked from his brain map he had made in his mind, the traffic police was busy guiding the vehicles and diverting the traffic from the route where the PM was to pass, the police dog team and the army dog team were on the move sniffing everything in their respective areas for any bombs wagging their tails as was also a good outing along with their professional work for them.
The location where we were was at a higher level and the airfield was clearly visible from there being lower . It was soon announced for everyone to close in as the time was getting ripe for his arrival. We could soon see AN 32, the a Russian aircraft along with the PM ‘s Boeing plane hovering over the skies and a few minutes later saw them land on the airfield, first the PM ‘s plane followed by the AN 32 in which others and his BMW car was aboard. They soon landed and siren was heard. By this time we were inside the hall and everyone was now silent. After a few minutes we could hear from a senior officer standing next to the entrance.
”Ladies and Gentlemen, the Prime Minister”
And everybody rose from his seat giving a loud noise of the closing in on the seats which is heard when you get up from your seat in a picture hall. As he arrived inside, the National Anthem was played and then he sat on the front seat facing the dais accompanied by his wife and other senior officers. Everything was timed with precision. It was followed by a short speech of the senior most officer of the city and the PM was ushered to the dais where he barely took 10 minutes to deliver his speech and was out of the hall to the VVIP lounge to meet the senior lot. By this time we all were out as we had started to exit the hall while he was in the VVIP lounge. He started to mix around with everyone from one side, first the place where the jawans were standing and had lined up in rows to meet their PM. The atmosphere was suitably relaxed as army was in full control of the situation although the black cats were always accompanied the PM as his body guards with the most modern weapons in their hands in ready to fire positions. The PM was cheerful meeting the men and everyone clustered near him till the garnish line beyond which they were not allowed to go but they were giving their hands to him for a touch to have his feel. He shook hands with many of them and there was continuous flashlight of the flashing cameras. Then he came to the next group where students were standing and shook hands with them. They all cheered him. It was then final mixing around with the ladies and officers where all the senior dignitaries were standing clustering around him. The PM’s wife was equally busy discussing and speaking a few sentences with the ladies as fast as she could as the time was short.
I was holding a digital camera in my hand hence could not take my own picture with him but snapped many photos of the people I knew. As he came towards my side there was a great rush and I could not reach him but could only raise my camera up in the air to have a top view of him. He came near me but
I was quiet far off so gave up the idea that I will get a chance to shake hands with him and concentrated on my photography. The camera used to shake as I was finding it difficult to hold it at a place due to the rush which disturbed my focussing of camera by the rush. I then moved ahead at a place where he was to come next and meet the remaining of us. As he passed this time with a row of other officers in front of me I just raised my hand in the air and extended it towards him from the second row where I was standing .He smiled at me and caught my hand and held it tight.
It was the Prime Ministers hand in my hand or mine in his I do not know but those 20 seconds in my life I cannot forget as the strength I experienced in his hands was tremendous inspite of being such an aged person for he was never a farmer nor had done any physically hard job to the best of my knowledge in his life but his hand was a real knuckle grinder. During the time he was holding my hand I could see honesty dripping out of his eyes which is a very rare commodity found in the politicians of today, expressions of a contented man and simplicity like a common man giving a warm and welcoming gesture. He was conveying the assurance that the nation handed over to him will be looked after well as is in the right and strong hands so I as a citizen do not have to worry anything about it. The best and the most surprising part was that he did not leave my hand for such a long time and shook it vigorously as generally one leaves after 5 to 6 seconds of shaking the hands and for a PM who has to meet thousands like me every day the time was at premium. I had heard some critics calling him a weak PM but I would like to tell them now that they should first shake their hands with him and then give such comments as a weak person cannot have such a strong hand; only the strong willed person have such ones.(Kindly refer to the book on ‘Body language’ by Allan Pease). It was exhibiting firmness, honesty, transparency, brilliance, accessibility to the common man and substantiated by cheerfulness on his face all in one go. After he left my hand he met others but had left a deep impact on me, a real memorable one and I was one of the happiest man of the day.
Soon he waived his hand to everyone, boarded his BMW car and within minutes the whole motorcade vanished as he was to go to other places. I considered myself to be lucky to have shaken hands with the most powerful and honest person of the nation who transferred his blessings to me through it and the day which would always be remembered all my life.
There was one Central Lecture Hall (CLH) near the airport which was utilised for all the important occasions and speeches of VVIPs. It was thus well maintained but simple with the heating arrangements as no coolers were required there due to very low temperature. Even during the peak summers it did not exceed 20 degree Celsius which is what we have in plains during the winters. This was mostly used as a movie theatre for screening of films on the weekends. It had a huge stage in the front just below the big screen and seats down below in ascending heights towards the rear of the theatre. Outside the theatre was a large open space on both the sides and there were no plants as Leh is plain except some vegetation around the riversides in summers. A beautiful lounge was on the side of the theatre for the VVIPs and one behind for the
others where arrangements for the central tea during lecture breaks were usually made.It was late summers when the winter chill could be felt in the bones, the cold wind blew during the dawn and dusk which forced everyone to wear their jackets and proper winter clothing during that time. This time a visit of a very important VVIP was planned who was none other than Shri Manmohan Singh, the present Prime Minister of India. It was his first visit to this station in his first tenure as a PM so the preparations were also accordingly done.
All the important roads were resurfaced, the route was made spic and span, the buildings adjacent to the route from where he was supposed to visit various places were whitewashed, all the signposts were made new, some painted afresh, the stones on the sides of the road were whitewashed, welcome banners hanged at various places and all the basic minimum decorations done.
The day, 11Jun2005, finally arrived. It was morning of early winters. I started from my house early to be well before time at the CLH. As I reached there in my vehicle I could see many security staff busy in ensuring the safety aspects at the last moment as the Prime Minister’s plane was to arrive shortly within two hours. The vehicles were all lined up distantly from the main venue, the CLH and within about 15 minutes there were hundreds of them lined up as everyone was rushing up to be seated in advance. It was like holiday from office and everyone was preparing for the big show. The administrative personnel were busy checking out last minute layout of tea arrangements for the break, there were many tents decorated in the form of stalls where the various groups of people were standing under it to meet the PM when he was to come out after his speech to meet them. Every big shot like the senior army and police officials were looking like ordinary people like each of us and were moving here and there to ensure the security aspects for their career could be at stake if something went wrong. The signalmen were worried about the performance of their microphones, the engineers were on the tents and the stage which they had made, the mechanical engineers were on the generator; should the lights fail to cater it as standby, the medical team was ready for any emergency just in case and the doctor was time and again checking about the technical items from his assistant, the security officer had his eyes on the sentries located at various important positions which was being cross checked from his brain map he had made in his mind, the traffic police was busy guiding the vehicles and diverting the traffic from the route where the PM was to pass, the police dog team and the army dog team were on the move sniffing everything in their respective areas for any bombs wagging their tails as was also a good outing along with their professional work for them.
The location where we were was at a higher level and the airfield was clearly visible from there being lower . It was soon announced for everyone to close in as the time was getting ripe for his arrival. We could soon see AN 32, the a Russian aircraft along with the PM ‘s Boeing plane hovering over the skies and a few minutes later saw them land on the airfield, first the PM ‘s plane followed by the AN 32 in which others and his BMW car was aboard. They soon landed and siren was heard. By this time we were inside the hall and everyone was now silent. After a few minutes we could hear from a senior officer standing next to the entrance.
”Ladies and Gentlemen, the Prime Minister”
And everybody rose from his seat giving a loud noise of the closing in on the seats which is heard when you get up from your seat in a picture hall. As he arrived inside, the National Anthem was played and then he sat on the front seat facing the dais accompanied by his wife and other senior officers. Everything was timed with precision. It was followed by a short speech of the senior most officer of the city and the PM was ushered to the dais where he barely took 10 minutes to deliver his speech and was out of the hall to the VVIP lounge to meet the senior lot. By this time we all were out as we had started to exit the hall while he was in the VVIP lounge. He started to mix around with everyone from one side, first the place where the jawans were standing and had lined up in rows to meet their PM. The atmosphere was suitably relaxed as army was in full control of the situation although the black cats were always accompanied the PM as his body guards with the most modern weapons in their hands in ready to fire positions. The PM was cheerful meeting the men and everyone clustered near him till the garnish line beyond which they were not allowed to go but they were giving their hands to him for a touch to have his feel. He shook hands with many of them and there was continuous flashlight of the flashing cameras. Then he came to the next group where students were standing and shook hands with them. They all cheered him. It was then final mixing around with the ladies and officers where all the senior dignitaries were standing clustering around him. The PM’s wife was equally busy discussing and speaking a few sentences with the ladies as fast as she could as the time was short.
I was holding a digital camera in my hand hence could not take my own picture with him but snapped many photos of the people I knew. As he came towards my side there was a great rush and I could not reach him but could only raise my camera up in the air to have a top view of him. He came near me but
I was quiet far off so gave up the idea that I will get a chance to shake hands with him and concentrated on my photography. The camera used to shake as I was finding it difficult to hold it at a place due to the rush which disturbed my focussing of camera by the rush. I then moved ahead at a place where he was to come next and meet the remaining of us. As he passed this time with a row of other officers in front of me I just raised my hand in the air and extended it towards him from the second row where I was standing .He smiled at me and caught my hand and held it tight.It was the Prime Ministers hand in my hand or mine in his I do not know but those 20 seconds in my life I cannot forget as the strength I experienced in his hands was tremendous inspite of being such an aged person for he was never a farmer nor had done any physically hard job to the best of my knowledge in his life but his hand was a real knuckle grinder. During the time he was holding my hand I could see honesty dripping out of his eyes which is a very rare commodity found in the politicians of today, expressions of a contented man and simplicity like a common man giving a warm and welcoming gesture. He was conveying the assurance that the nation handed over to him will be looked after well as is in the right and strong hands so I as a citizen do not have to worry anything about it. The best and the most surprising part was that he did not leave my hand for such a long time and shook it vigorously as generally one leaves after 5 to 6 seconds of shaking the hands and for a PM who has to meet thousands like me every day the time was at premium. I had heard some critics calling him a weak PM but I would like to tell them now that they should first shake their hands with him and then give such comments as a weak person cannot have such a strong hand; only the strong willed person have such ones.(Kindly refer to the book on ‘Body language’ by Allan Pease). It was exhibiting firmness, honesty, transparency, brilliance, accessibility to the common man and substantiated by cheerfulness on his face all in one go. After he left my hand he met others but had left a deep impact on me, a real memorable one and I was one of the happiest man of the day.
Soon he waived his hand to everyone, boarded his BMW car and within minutes the whole motorcade vanished as he was to go to other places. I considered myself to be lucky to have shaken hands with the most powerful and honest person of the nation who transferred his blessings to me through it and the day which would always be remembered all my life.
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