When Raja met Telgi

In a long long time Raja had all the time in the world to think. He was all alone in the dimly lit cell in Tihar. He had met Telgi at breakfast in the morning. Telgi had then said, Raja being a lawyer should have done one better than Telgi.  Even after thinking for long, Raja didn’t understand what Telgi meant by what he said. That evening after supper (remember supper is taken by 7 PM in jails) Raja sought Telgi and after exchanging greetings sat him down for a chat.

Raja got to the point straight away and wanted to know what he did wrong. Telgi offered him a zafrani pan (Telgi being an old tenant was at home in Tihar; besides he knew his way around) and looking straight into Raja’s eyes told him “You didn’t do anything right”. Raja did a double take and stopped chewing the pan.

Telgi asked Raja how all those who were with him in the heydays have now suddenly disowned him.  Raja scratched is head; he hadn’t thought of it like that. In fact it dawned on him he was never thinking all these years – he just did what he was told to do. Telgi was his own boss. In such matters it is important to take control. He went on to tell his story.           

Telgi a school drop out never opened a bank account. He dealt in hard cash. His scam worth ` 100K million was all cash in Telgi’s pocket. Oh yes he gave away some of it to many others. The real money Telgi made is still a mystery. Contrast that with Raja. He is alleged to have made a mere ` 30K million, probably shared by many. The notional loss to us Indians is immaterial here.   Raja was listening intently, totally oblivious to the pan in his open mouth. Though he is in jail for long Telgi has all the cash he made still with him! You see his dealings were not through any bank!

As he lay in bed that night – Raja thought and realised he was doing this (thinking) for the first time in his life. He decided to become a disciple of Telgi. He thought some more and realised he has to think for himself. Telgi can help only so much. He has to behave his name. Will there be another chance?  Well, anything is possible in politics.

In passing…..

We can get lost in it. Riding it we can go back in time or travel to the future. However powerful, we can harness it on our own. We can follow it if we know one language or possibly no language at all. George Bernard Shaw had this to say about it “few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once a week. “