As someone who was growing up in the 1990s, my father’s stories about Atal Bihari Vajpayee were an integral part of our lives. My father, a lawyer, was influenced by Vajpayee’s wit and extraordinary oratory skills.

One of the anecdotes centred around a speech that Vajpayee gave at Delhi’s Gol Market in 1977 while campaigning for Morarji Desai. My father, who was then a student in Delhi, was clearly impacted by the leader’s message of “patience is the key to maintain dharma”.

Quoting Mahabharata, Vajpayee spoke about how the Pandavas in search of water reached a lake. Yudhishthira, the oldest and wisest of the five, asked Sahdev, the youngest, to go and have water first. As soon as Sahdev tried to quench his thirst, an invisible voice roared and said: ‘First, answer my questions’. Sahdev did not pay heed and soon fainted. Now Nakul, Arjuna and Bhima came one after the other. They too fainted upon hearing the invisible the voice. It was finally Yudhishthra’s turn. The same voice again sought answers. Unlike his brothers, Yudhishthra patiently listened to the voice and tried to answer all its questions.

Credit by - The Indian Express

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