India needs more Pataudis for nation building than mukhotas on brand building exercise for vote

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When we see a spate of fasting and feasting happening around India - we wonder in humor, perhaps our FMs at centre and states would be happy with Indian youth imbibing fasting as a fad and a health route to slimming while demand side of  food falling to match shortage in supply. There are many families who fast as a routine with one meal a day as they can't afford. The number is large. But how large is not the matter we are dealing here. What the moot point is, in a country of  millions of hungry bellies, if a healthy well fed man declares fast for a couple of days or even for a fortnight, can it become such a big issue ? Putting aside the cause what so ever noble that may be, will those millions of families sway and burst in anger if a man or a group spend lakhs to fast? Would it not strike their mind that the same money could have been better spent by feeding those families who cant afford a square meal! Here comes the media. Media picks up whom to promote and whom not. That's the tragedy of  media failing often to meet its fourth pillar role of a democracy.Media promote not always events as per national need but project chaos more often than the silent goodness seen in the backyard. Its business for media to catch eye ball at the cost of nation.. Had it been, we would have Pataudis, Amirs, Aruna Roys, Sunita Narains  covering the noise space of idiot box , rather  than by the Ravi shahstris, Lalit Modis, Rekha Sawants and the Advanis.Reader is justifiable what make these two group distinct and why India eveloping as a federal composite culture needs more followers of the firsts in bracket than the later.There would be enough time in future to deal with each one separately. Today I am here after a long gap, to record my homage of one of the finest soul of India - one of the brightest stars that Indians will dearly keep in the heart - yes, I am talking about Tiger Pataudi - Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.

Tiger Pataudi turned into follklore hero in my teens. In the early seventies, when I was in my school in Kolkata, there were days when my grand dad would begin telling about his sports heroes - there were Hazares, Mankads, Merchants... there was this one-eyed Nawab of the field who caught my fantasy. In those days there was no TV at home. No net. No telephones. Radio was only point of contact with the distant world beyond your locality. Grandad would get excited as he would explain how after losing his eye, scored a double century. Oh what a lightning run he used to run to cover the entire cover and let not pass a single enemy ball. Grand dad used to tell his cricketing heroics on foreign soil. His grace on and off the field.

I remember Pataudi of the 74-75. I was reeling with chicken pox and bed ridden and listening to Eden's famous Bangla cricket commentary of "Kamalda" - explaining over radio with poetic verb how Pataudi struck three consecutive 4s. India won that match against an all time best west Indies team. That was long back.
4 decades after that Pataudi lived in India. We never looked upon Pataudi as a muslim mascot but a vintage Indian that spreads fragrance of good hope . .That's the image Pataudi left behind.A legacy to live with grace and dignity. I hope Gujarat's Modi's team would have a difficult game at hand if Pataudi wanted to attend  Sadbhavana Fast without a head cap. The point that comes out clearly here is - there are two Indias - one where visioners are Amirs and Pataudis who set for the Indian community a path to composite culture where all religions co-exist and not challenge each other, and there is another India of votes and fasts and rath-yatras where the true love and belief in co-existence is a publicity gimmick for economic convenience and for becoming a bigger vote catcher on a larger Indian hinterland.

Even the moon has its dark spots. In the emotive heat of eulogizing Pataudi, the media has gone blind to the fact that one court case is running where MAK Pataudi is accused of killing a life protected under Wild Life Act. With the death, curtain to the case will be drawn by the court.

We will miss Mansur Pataudi  on his expert comments on many critical issues that Indian cricket faced. That crisp one liners Pataudii was famous for, will remain with us as a treasure. And the future generations of India would show better respect PAT's soul by showing and guarding Indianness than regionalism in all walks of life and placing heart and the head above religion..