'Oommen Chandy always had time for his people and valued their voices.'
'There was no rest for him as long as the betterment of his fellow citizens was at stake.'
Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who knew the former Kerala chief minister for half a century, salutes a beloved leader who worked tirelessly for the welfare of its people.
Kerala witnessed over the last three days something it has never before seen -- an outpouring of grief over the sad demise of former chief minister and Congress leader Oommen Chandy which brought millions onto the streets to see him one last time and pay their last respects.
Many have come and gone, but none in recent history have received a farewell of this kind.
The collective grief was palpable and infused with a sense of gratitude.
It was as if people were determined to return multifold the love and care that Oommen Chandy had lavished on every single person who approached him for help over his six decade long public life.
Oommen Chandy served the people of Kerala selflessly and in the process, left an indelible mark on the state and its people.
For me, the loss of Oommen Chandy is as big a personal loss as a public loss.
I met him first when I was a school boy and have remained in close touch over the years in my personal as well as official capacity.
I knew his family well and he knew my wife from the time we got married.
He was a welcome but totally unexpected visitor for our small marriage limited to a few close friends in 1986.
Oommen Chandy heard about our marriage from my close friend, the late P T Thomas, and made it a point to come and greet us.
Neither the lack of a formal invitation nor the fact that the wedding was in a temple deterred him.
Oommen Chandy was a regular church-goer and a deeply religious man throughout his life.
But he was secular to the core and his religiosity was always inclusive and never interfered with his respect for other religions and their practices.
He would also never let formalities prevent him from doing the right thing in any circumstance.
What made Oommen Chandy so special is the fact that the personal qualities he displayed were universal and not with respect to only one individual.
There was no political leader in Kerala who was as open and accessible to all as Oommen Chandy was, including when he was minister and chief minister.
Stories about him are legendary. Anyone making a phone call to his residence would find the Chief Minister himself picking up the phone and saying "Oommen Chandy here".
I recall my own personal surprise when I first encountered this habit of his and asked him to pass the phone to the minister, only to have him very patiently reassure me that it was he himself on the other side.
Oommen Chandy also had a great sense of humour. He has narrated how the car of some girls travelling from Karnataka to Kerala broke down in a forest area in the middle of the night and the panic stricken parents woke him up in the middle of the night requesting help.
With great difficulty, he traced the police station of the area, informed the officer on duty of the situation and requested him to send someone to help the stranded girls.
The officer listened patiently, promised to do everything possible and before putting down the phone told him, "We would have helped anyway. You did not have to pretend to be the chief minister while making this request."
Oommen Chandy used to say people are his oxygen and if ever he had to be penalised, keeping him away from people was the worst punishment that could be inflicted upon him.
The Covid period and the last phase of his battle with cancer were therefore the most difficult periods of his life.
Otherwise, every single day, his public life would start early morning around 7 am and continue till late night.
He was always surrounded by people and would never ever say 'No' to anyone, whether it was for a meeting or for any assistance.
He was tireless and would never disappoint anyone. Sleep and rest were always secondary. He was unmatched in his ability to connect with the people.
He was a leader who constantly remained surrounded by thousands of admirers, eager to share their concerns and seek solutions.
Oommen Chandy always had time for his people and valued their voices.
There was no rest for Chandy, as long as the betterment of his fellow citizens was at stake.
He pushed through late nights and early mornings, tirelessly advocating for their rights and addressing their needs.
There are stories of how during a mass contact campaign launched by his government, he went from district to district personally receiving complaints and trying to find solutions on the spot to different problems.
Thousands of people would gather at every district headquarter and he would be on his feet attending to them from early morning till well past midnight uninterrupted by food or rest.
Bureaucrats would complain that often they could not get his undivided attention to discuss important matters and on occasions, he got embroiled in controversy because of the people who got close to him.
But he refused to change his approach when it came to being open and approachable.
My personal recollections are how I once visited Kerala while on a foreign posting, and wanted to say hello to him.
His office asked me to go and see him in the MLA's hostel. I found him surrounded by a hundred people carrying petitions of various kinds.
He saw me from a distance and waved me to come close. But there was no way I could get anywhere close to him.
Finally, we had no option but to exchange pleasantries over the heads of many people.
On another occasion, I thought I would beat the crowds around him and landed up at his house at 6.30 am.
To my great chagrin, there were already around 20 people waiting to see him, including some ministers and political leaders.
If accessibility was one great virtue, his 'can do' spirit and patience when it came to the problems of the people, was unparalleled.
Nobody who came to see him went back empty handed. When he was in office, he would try to address their problems through the government.
When out of office, he would use his vast network of contacts to help the poor and distressed in all manner possible.
Many of those who came to him were poor people who needed financial assistance for their ailments.
Oommen Chandy would speak or send a slip with them to people whom he knew and request that financial support be provided.
Since the people receiving the slip had themselves been beneficiaries of Oommen Chandy's help at some point, they would readily oblige.
I invited Oommen Chandy for many landmark events in my professional and personal life.
He was the chief guest at functions to release my book on India and the UAE in Dubai, its Malayalam version in Kochi and a function in Thiruvananthapuram when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan released the Malayalam version of my book What We Can Learn From The Dutch.
Oommen Chandy was also part of two memorial lectures in honour of my late father, K S Rajamony.
I was honoured to be invited to receive from Shashi Tharoor in early 2021 the first copy of a book of humorous stories from Oommen Chandy's life during the Corona period authored by his former press secretary P T Chacko.
The first thing that would strike anyone meeting Oommen Chandy was his humility, simplicity, friendliness and disarming smile.
However, behind this soft exterior, there also was an astute politician, wily strategist and capable administrator.
Oommen Chandy served an unbroken 53 years as MLA from Puthupally constituency from 1970.
Entering the assembly at the age of 27, he became the longest serving MLA in the history of any state legislature in India.
He began his public life with student politics in the early 1960s and was president of the Kerala Students Union and the state Youth Congress.
He was labour minister twice, home minister and finance minister under different chief ministers.
He was twice Kerala's chief minister and served from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He was Leader of the Opposition in the interim period, 2006 to 2011. Oommen Chandy put this vast experience to good use and was an authority on administrative matters.
Oommen Chandy's unwavering commitment to the development of Kerala and its citizens was always evident.
During his tenure, Chandy focused on crucial sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, and employment opportunities.
His leadership paved the way for innovative projects like the comprehensive healthcare scheme Karunya that provided affordable medical care to the economically disadvantaged.
Additionally, his efforts to promote industrial growth and tourism have significantly contributed to Kerala's economic progress.
Many of the large and successful infrastructure projects in the state owe their genesis to him.
Under Chandy's leadership, Kerala witnessed remarkable strides in various sectors.
Education received significant attention, with initiatives promoting literacy rates and skill development.
Infrastructure projects, such as the Kochi Metro and Kannur International Airport, brought about rapid modernisation.
Moreover, social welfare measures, including housing schemes and poverty alleviation programs, helped uplift the marginalized sections of society.
Oommen Chandy was the target of many political attacks during his life, but there was no opponent who did not admire his humanism and total commitment to the welfare of the people.
President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have all heaped praise on Oommen Chandy and his contributions on hearing news of his sad demise.
The outpouring of public grief following Chandy's passing serves as a testament to his enduring legacy.
By touching millions of lives and leaving an indelible impact on Kerala's governance and development, he has established himself as a political leader who has left a unique imprint on the history of our country and the hearts and minds of its people.
Oommen Chandy's unwavering dedication to improving the lives of the poor and needy will remain an inspiration for generations to come.
He has shown us how wisdom and leadership infused with compassion can make an enormous difference in public life.
Personally, I will always remember and cherish his love and affection. My last meeting with him was in December last year.
He had just returned from treatment in Germany. His voice was weak, but he insisted on speaking with me for some time.
He was grateful for the help provided to his family and him by the Indian embassy in Germany and the German consulate in Bengaluru.
He was optimistic that his voice would recover with treatment and rest.
He was curious to know about my work with the state government.
I bid goodbye to him that day with a heavy heart, praying for his good health and hoping against hope that it was not a losing battle that he was fighting.
Rest in peace, dear Oommen Chandy. Your legacy will live on and continue to inspire millions.
Ambassador Venu Rajamony is currently OSD (External Cooperation), Government of Kerala, and Professor of Diplomatic Practice, O P Jindal University.
Ambassador Rajamony is a former Press Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee and served as Ambassador of India to The Netherlands.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
