Retribution can be swift!

The media has gone to town with the shenanigans of Dayanidhi Maran, a former Telecom Minister of the union cabinet. I, for one, get a wry satisfaction from the discomfort that this worthy seems to be going through because of a personal experience of mine with him in Jun '04. He'd just become a minister and the trappings of power had gone into his head - though I realised it much later. At that point of time, I'd surmised that he, being a comparative youngster in the cabinet wanted to prove himself and being from the new(?) generation, was clean and wanted to avoid hangers on and visitors to avoid corruption of any kind.

My maman and I'd gone to invite him to the PN Panicker postage stamp release ceremony and the attendant cancellation of the first day cover on 19 Jun '04, at Thiruvananthapuram, in his capacity as the Telecom Minister. It was the follow up action after he'd made Justice Krishna Iyer - calling from Kochi - wait for over 45' on the telephone line before disconnecting it with no conversation, the previous day! The Justice had wanted to invite him personally as he was the Patron and Chairman of the PN Panicker Foundation.

After a long wait for over an hour, we finally got the chance to meet this 'worthy' who told us in no uncertain terms that he did not find it compelling or important enough to be present at the function. It was a mean blow to our pride but much more than that he'd besmirched the memory of PN Panicker and his contribution to society. He'd spoken like an ignoramus but I refuse to believe that, because a minister is briefed by his personal staff (headed by none other than a bureaucrat) before a visitor is let into the office and therefore, I insinuate that Maran had made that scene fully aware of the background!

What he seemed to have forgotten - which one's taught quite early in life and he, definitely seems to have missed this lesson totally - is that one needs to be humble as one progresses in life. Life has come full circle for him and he's become a laughing stock in the Indian psyche. It's my fond hope that he learns about life in its actual sense and strives to be a better human being as the present drama unfolds itself to its logical conclusion!

Yes, retribution is swift and God is great!!