Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, minister of Science and Technology and
minister of earth sciences and former chief minister of Maharashtra left
for his heavenly abode on 14th August 2012 due to multiple organ
failure at Global Hospital Chennai. This surely was a shocking news and I was really disturbed.
I am not a politician nor interested in politics, I have
been an educationist for the last 28 years and I really do not understand much of
politics. I am not at all here to write about Mr Deshmukh’s political career
but I would like to write about his excellent quality-punctuality. I had the
opportunity to interact with him on a couple of occasions when I worked for
GFGS at Kharghar
I joined Greenfingers Global School Kharghar, Navi Mumbai,
as a Founder Principal and we had the school inauguration on 19th
June 2006. Mr Deshmukh who was then the
Chief minister of Maharashtra was
invited to inaugurate the school. The function was fixed at 3:30 pm and there
were nearly ten thousand people
assembled for the same , it is not an exaggeration but a fact, the one acre
play ground of this school was so packed that the late comers had to stand on
the road to have a glimpse. This was the
largest crowd I have faced and addressed! This school belongs to Mr
Vijaysinh MohitePatil, another popular minister who has a huge fan following.
Mr Deshmukh had confirmed, to be on the premise by 3 pm
sharp but that day he came in 20 minutes earlier and there were almost all the
ministers from his cabinet who attended the function including Mr R R Patil the
then Home Minister and all of them had arrived 10 minutes earlier before Mr
Deshmukh arrived. I heard them talking among themselves “ Sahebancha sobat
jayayacha manhje tharavlele vela peksha ardhataas tari laukar pochla pahije”-meaning
if we have to go to any function with Saheb it is better that we reach half an
hour earlier than the scheduled time.
I was really surprised, I have seen politicians making the
crowd wait for hours together and then walking in at leisure at their own whims
and fancies and sometimes not turning up at all. Even the education inspectors
or chief guests invited for small time functions, walk in late at their
convinience and here was a chief ministers showing up 20 minutes earlier than
his scheduled time! I could not help but admire and adore him for this disciplined
trait.
When he addressed the crowd, his speech was crisp, relevant
and charismatic. I must mention Mr R R Patil also is a very good speaker who
speaks intelligently.
It was not just this occasion, an year later when his cabinet along with Mr Sharad Pawar came to lay a foundation stone for Grameen Bhavan at Kharaghar, they were served lunch at our school and again the same discipline was maintained.
Mr Deshmukh has surely left this world much before his
scheduled departure; all of us know 67 years is not the age to exit. All I can
do is to pray that his SOUL rests in peace.
Arundhati Hoskeri
