My Father Gouri Shankar Rajhans Was Steadfast In Negotiating Challenges By Puneet Rajhans

My Father Gouri Shankar Rajhans Was Steadfast In Negotiating Challenges By Puneet Rajhans

From Media house minefield to political maelstrom my father Gouri Shankar Rajhans negotiated challenges given immense faith he had in Lord Shiva. Upbringing in middle income household he knew he had to defy diktats largely illustrated through belligerent English Rule to eroding sources of income given his father's fluctuating fortunes in business he had seen it all and accepted them as and when they came. From occasional pessimism that invaded Bihar The State he came from during school and college days he stood up to the challenge and created a niche for himself. Scoring first rank in Economics (Hons) in Graduation lifted him from moments of despair and this elation he carried with him when he went to pursue higher studies in North Carolina University in Chapel Hill. The return from Chapel Hill was amidst a climate when India had lost war to China and India's vicissitudes mirrored an essay of an era where judgements in varied fields were flip-flop. From Kumardhubi to Kolkata the myriad of upheavals that he confronted were not few and far given the closed economy the country had and the job opportunities that were drying up with each passing hour. He stuck to his roots and never ever ran out of hope howsoever voluminous the path may be.

The media house innings may have illuminated him but they were not with its share of ifs and buts. I can still recall Weekend Review and Contour were the two publications launched in early '80s and sliding circulation base of the latter and how he was able to convince the powers that be that launching of Contour was a decision taken in haste and rectitude of his argument could not be questioned. Novels he pinned during his lifetime were inspirations from the daily grind of a common man. 

Elation the family had seen from time to time and one such moment was when his brothers were quite elated at his Parliament Victory and telephonic conversations from Bhagalpur to Canada summed up the euphoria. Even during his college days he spent much of his time with his nieces Kalpana, Pramila and nephew Anand and that were the moments that stayed in his memory for long. His days as Ambassador to Laos and Combodia were the moments that kept the family euphoric as well. 

His Parliament Stint was emancipating and it opened doors for him to realise his dreams. Speech after speech he underscored the need to bring relief to the common man as the man on the street was under illusion that a brute majority for a party in Parliament could do wonders for him. The creaking medical infrastructure and the need to correct it, the elusive job something mirrored even today were the requests made from his constituency people and he tried his best to ameliorate their sufferings with whatever tools he had at his disposal. His coming to the rescue of then MP Sunil Dutt who was at the receiving end of a fellow MP in Parliament for the sheer reason that he came from film industry background won him an all-weather buddy.

A loss in elections did not deter him and his extensive observations through his writings on booth capturing episodes in Hindi Heartland were one among different attempts and that brought slump in the fortunes of booth capturers. The search for adversary and there were some who did not appreciate his Parliament Stint and his Diplomatic Odyssey was a new chapter that he relished. Exchanging notes with powers that be of that era the bonhomie that he radiated with Cambodia King Norodom Sihanouk the moments were swathed in diary writing that were by no means less than grandeur.

Writing for Hindi Heartland he cherished as his sole motive was to bring awareness among the masses on the issues that bother the have-nots. These issues were dwindling fortunes of common man, the need to eradicate poverty and not the poor, the urgency in raising girl child with no diffidence, the lackadaisical medical care in remote parts of India, the need to give respect to migrant workers and the ones uprooted by unchecked economic lib. 

His writings were an inspiration and his constant endeavour to bring in focus the narrative guiding nation earned him respect and a ringing testament to the fact that no nation state can stay mute for long to the demands of the masses.