For last seven years Gopi is not with us. An age has passed. It was Gopi's age the defining feature of which was warmth, cheer, charm and chase after excellence in life.
One evening in Rashtrapati Bhavan Major Gopi called me up to inform that he had arranged two invitation cards, one for him and the other for me, to attend the lecture which was being delivered by Professor Amartya Sen in the Taj Mansigh Hotel on the theme "Indian Identity". I was very excited to note that a young army officer had such deep interest in serious lectures which fell beyond the scope of the call of his duty.
I was truly amazed and impressed by his intellectual bent of mind. In fact it was I, in my capacity for doing research for speeches of the late President of India K.R. Narayanan, was supposed to keep track of such academic events and attend them. It was truly great a education to attend that lecture which completely refashioned my understanding of Indian identity which while plural and composite in nature stressed on enduring unity. But for Gopi I would not have got an opportunity to attend such a brilliant lecture the central theme of which was later enlarged in the book Argumentative Indian by Professor Amartya Sen. That one example from Major Gopi's life reveals his profound intellectual dimensions which he nurtured so well even as he excelled as a soldier.
Before proceeding to the venue of the lecture I told Gopi that I had to go home and get some money as I had nothing at all in my pocket. With characteristic broad minded approach he told me that he had enough money with him to buy the whole of Delhi and, therefore, I would not have to be exercised by money part to attend the lecture.
I was overwhelmed by his boldness and strength of his articulation to buy whole of Delhi. At a time when we are almost submerged in a gloomy atmosphere and there is hardly any optimistic vibe to cheer up the spirit, we require a person like Gopi to lead us and show the way.
His mental maturity rivalled the maturity of a person of ripe old age. It was always a learning experience to hear Gopi recite the couplets of Hindi literature which taught us the values of life. As a constructive critic he exercised necessary restraint on my over enthusiasm and at the same time patted my back on seeing the slightest good work done.
Whenever I attempted to reveal too many brighter side of life he put a check on it by reciting a line of Hindi poem the rough and literary meaning of which conveyed the idea that if silk clothes are kept outside for too long those would become easily dirty. Truly he had every right to act as a conscience keeper because he had very exacting standards of morality, restraint and discipline. Shri Gopal Gandhi very rightly said a few months back that Gopi would have been such a major strength now.
An outstanding officer of the Indian Army he remained fearless and cultivated a mind set which aligned with optimism and undying spirit. He was not willing to think of defeat in the face adverse situation. Once when his revered mother saw him coming tired, worn out and vanquished she asked him to regain his energy by taking rest. He immediately corrected her by saying that he might have been tired and worn out but not vanquished or defeated. It is this winning spirit which made him very forward looking.
It was his cheerful spirit to defeat the adversities of life by sustained hard and intelligent work that endeared him to one and all. He was emerging from in the words of Swami Vivekananda not from error to truth but from truth to truth. Some body who graduated from one level of truth to another level of higher truth would always inspire us to perpetually remain engaged in search of truth.
He had attained a much higher stature on account of his martyrdom and thereby establishing a new bench mark of truth and excellence in life and beyond. It is sad that we use past tense to write about Gopi who always looked for a bright future. Long live Major Gopi.
# The author was OSD and Press Secretary to the late President of India Shri K.R.Narayanan and served as Director in the Prime Minister's Office. He is currently Joint Secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The views expressed by the author are his personal views.
