Anil Shastri's Tale

The boy had cleared his eleventh standard examination. He was seeking admission to the famous St Stephen’s college, Delhi. He reached the administrative office and was given a form to fill up the relevant details. After entering the required fields, the boy gave the application form to the officer in charge of admissions Mr Robert. As he glanced through the entries, everything seemed to be in order.

Name : Anil Kumar
Father’s name : LB Shastri
Address : 10 Janpath
Father’s occupation : Government employee

One look at the address and the officer knew that it belonged to the Prime Minister of India. Looking at the teenager, Mr Robert came to the conclusion that the boy’s father in all probability was one of the many staff workers employed in the PM’s office. Wanting to be doubly sure, the officer asked the boy his father's designation.

With great reluctance, the boy answered, ‘Prime Minister of India’.

Anil Shastri narrated this incident while talking about his late father Lal Bahadur Shastri.

‘Right from the beginning, we were taught to keep a low profile. We seldom took our father’s (PM) name and kept it a closely guarded secret’, revealed Shastri.

In these days where people flaunt their political connections and invoke the names of contacts in high places, this story is an eyeopener and a lesson in simplicity.

Upbringing matters.

Image credit – TV9 Bharatvarsh

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