The Dalit who rose on merit

Sharada Prasad Meek in appearance, K R Narayanan was a thoughtful and forthright man to whom principles were dearer than positions

Those who had met Kocheril Raman Narayanan found it hard to believe that he was the head of state of the world’s second-largest nation. His height had nothing to do with it, for there have been other short-statured men in power, like Napoleon, who showed off their authority. But President Narayanan effortlessly eschewed the postures of power. There was a natural gentleness about his countenance, conversation and manner, which reminded one of that other mini-giant in our public life, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Nirmala Deshpande recounts an instance of his unassuming nature. Once on a visit to his house, Mrs Narayanan said: "Nirmalaji likes our banana chips. But the tin is at the top of the shelf and the servant has gone home." "Wait, I'll take it down," said Narayanan. And he jumped onto a chair, and brought down the tin. He might have looked meek, but he was a person of convictions and clear views. Principles were more dear to him than positions. He never paraded his wisdom or sought publicity.
While he was a champion of the Dalits, Narayanan did not use his origin as a bargaining chip. It might be argued that he would not have become Vice-President had he not been a Dalit. But he was recruited to the foreign service not because of his disadvantaged birth but because of the quality of his mind. It was his mind, and his character that propelled him. And it was the fact that he represented India with distinction that prompted the Congress to invite him to join electoral politics.
While studying in Kerala, Narayanan received some help from the Harijan Sevak Sangh. After graduation, he wanted to study at the London School of Economics. While waiting in Bombay to catch the steamer to the UK, he met Mahatma Gandhi. It is a little known interview but it shows how thoughtful and forthright Narayanan was even as a young man.

NARAYANAN: Do you still hold that the Harijan problem is only religious and social, and that has no great political significance?

GANDHI: It has political significance but indirectly.

NARAYANAN: The Congress as a body has not taken up Harijan work. Will it not be better if that work is taken up by Congress and not by Harijan Sevak Sangh?

GANDHI: It is wrong to say that the Congress has not taken it up.

NARAYANAN: But [...] leaders like Jawaharlal and Rashtrapati are not aware of the Harijan question?

GANDHI: Those two are immersed in that work.

NARAYANAN: The Harijan Sevak Sangh after years of work has not yet produced even a dozen leaders from among the Harijans themselves.

GANDHI: That is only partly true.

NARAYANAN: All great men have a passion for simplification. You have simplified the nature of human conflict as between violence and non-violence, truth and untruth, right and wrong. But, in life, is not the conflict between one right and another right or between one truth and another truth? How can non-violence deal with such a situation?

GANDHI: That is a matter of application.

NARAYANAN: The Hindu-Muslim question where conflict is between the rights of Hindus and those of Muslims, what technique of non-violence can be used to solve the problem, especially when these rights seem irreconcilable?

GANDHI: The awful situation can only be dealt with properly through Satyagraha. Your questions show that you have not studied it. If I am right, Pyarelal will give you a list of books. My advice to you is that you should study literature on the subject.

NARAYANAN: How can a Harijan who goes abroad best serve his country and community?
GANDHI: He cannot serve one without serving the other. Abroad, you will say it is a domestic question, which you are determined to solve for yourself.

The Mahatma did not seem to have been of much help to Narayanan. Left to depend on his own resources, he acted in such a way as would show that there was no conflict between his loyalty to his community and to his country. It is a paradox of our national life that while our objective is the abolition of narrow domestic walls, our Constitutional provisions and electoral practices have led to the entrenchment of caste and communal differences. Narayanan showed how the dilemma could be resolved.