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From: Sundar <[email protected]>
Date: 6 Feb 2009 17:55
Subject: [4brahmins] On gopalaswamy
To: [email protected]
The unknown facts of the well known man - *Sundararajan*
He lives by the give-nothing- take-nothing principle
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Our Delhi Bureau
February 04, 2009
Chief Election Commissioner Needamangalam Gopalaswami is a stickler.
For rules. For details. For discipline. For principles. For values.
For him, there is only one way of doing things: The right way.
He is known to make copious notes about how every hour of his day
passes. "He jots down details in a tiny diary. Even if you speak to
him on the phone for a few minutes, your name and details of the
conversation go into that tiny diary," revealed a friend who has known
the CEC for 20 years.
So, the moment he decided to recommend Navin Chawla's [Images] removal
from the post of election commissioner, Gopalaswami retreated into a
one-of-its-kind library. "It is more like a room where all these
diaries, which he has kept labeled in serial order over a period of
time, are strewn all over the place," the friend said.
Gopalaswami turned to these diaries for factual accuracy. People close
to the CEC that his keen eye for detail and habit of keeping
meticulous notes led him to believe that Chawla was leaking
information during his toilet breaks.
"That he drafted a 12-point recommendation running into more than 90
pages is a fact everyone knows. What many don't know is that he went
over it again and again and again. He revised the draft nine times
before forwarding it to President Pratibha Patil [Images]," the friend
said.
What might appear extraordinary or eccentric to the casual observer is
but second nature for Gopalaswami, who is fondly referred to as Gopu
by some colleagues.
An Indian Administrative Service officer from the 1966 batch, his
first posting was in Surat [Images]. Gopalaswami, a former student of
St Stephen's College, had stood second in the mandatory Gujarati test
for officers from outside Gujarat.
He worked to ensure the best possible civic infrastructure for the
industrial town. He became so popular that local political leaders
said he could easily win an election if he ever chose to contest.
During his stint in Gujarat, senior leaders like Chimanbhai Patel and
Hitendra Desai are known to have diverted their adversaries to
Gopalaswami, knowing there was no better person at snubbing unwanted
elements. When a local leader approached him with a bribe of Rs 5,000
early in his tenure, Gopalaswami first intimated the chief minister
and then called the police.
This kind of adherence to values has made him the person that he is
today, people close to Gopalaswami say.
"If you go to his residence, he won't even offer you a glass of water.
He may even eat in front of you without offering you anything," a
close friend said. This attitude is more because of a
give-nothing- take-nothing principle than anything else, insiders say.
And friends say he could swallow what he dished out. A teetotaler with
simple and clean eating habits, he is never known to have eaten a
single meal outside his home.
"He had to attend so many dinner meetings. In the two decades or so
that I have known him, I have never seen him eat outside," a friend
said, adding, "He will entertain you in the drawing room and may talk
to you for two hours, but there won't be a single offer for any
refreshments or even water."
Gopalaswami follows his set of rules at the workplace too. He used to
leave office at 9 pm. "His brief to his office was that he wouldn't
sign any papers between 8.30 pm and 9 pm. 'If a guy comes running to
your car as you are leaving and wants something signed in a hurry,
that is where corruption begins' was his motto," an observer said.
Sources in the bureaucracy say that not just Gopalaswami, but two more
officers from the 1966 IAS batch are cast in the same mould.
"They are a terror for other officers due to their upright nature:
Gopalaswami, then Union Home Secretary P Shankar and Chief Vigilance
Officer and Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi. They were called the
teen murtis," the source added.
"The first two are often clubbed together and dubbed as Gopu and
Shanku -- that is also how they address each other. They have forged a
very close relationship over the years and are still very close," he
said.
Apart from such professionalism, another thing that Gopalaswami wears
on his sleeve is his faith. "Though he sports the Iyengar sweecharnam
(tilak), he leans more on the spiritual side than the religious side.
He is a very secular person," said the friend about the staunch
god-fearing Vaishnavaite.
"When Vaishnavite spiritual leaders visit Delhi [Images], temple
authorities here ask Gopalaswami to deliver the welcome address. He
recites the Tiruppavai during the month of Margazhi. He has also
visited all the divyadesams -- the 108 holy pilgrimage sites for
Vaishnavites, " the source added.
The CEC also sports a keen interest in astrology and is remarkably
tech-savvy, informs the friend.
When the Election Commission started the process of delimitations of
constituencies, the CEC suggested that Google maps be used for the
arduous exercise.
He also played a very crucial role in designing the software that will
be employed in the 2011 census.
A lesser known facet of Gopalaswami is the role he has played in
preserving the Vedas.
"Some parts of the ancient Hindu scriptures, like the sama Veda, are
only orally taught. They have been passed on through the Gurukul
system and through Shruti lessons. Goplaswami, who wanted to preserve
such things for posterity, was instrumental in securing a Rs 5 crore
(Rs 50 million) grant from UNESCO," a source said.
What ultimately defines the CEC's current predicament -- more than all
the above -- are these two incidents.
"He and The Hindu's Editor-in-Chief N Ram met each other when the
latter invited him to lecture the newspaper's staff in Chennai. From
that time, the two became close and Ram used to speak to him on a
daily basis. On the day he forwarded the recommendation to the
President, Ram got wind of it and called Gopalaswami and asked him if
what he had heard was true. Since he is not the kind of man who would
lie about anything, Gopalaswami merely said yes, and Ram went ahead
with his story. Otherwise, this would have remained an internal
matter," a source close to Gopalaswami said.
The other incident only highlights how the stickler also has a clearly
demarcated sense of personal equations and professionals responsibilities.
"When the controversy surrounding Chawla started brewing, at the behest of
Ram, Chawla paid a surprise visit to
Gopalaswami at his residence on Diwali, carrying sweets. The two spoke
for a long time and Chawla shared some personal problems with
Gopalaswami. As he was leaving, Chawla even made an elaborate gesture
of respect towards Gopalaswami and sought his blessings. Gopalaswami
wished him well," the source said.
Beauty is His footprint showing us where He has passed - Aurobindo
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