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I hesitated to write about the Late Krishna Ballabh Sahay. He was my respected ‘Guru’, my brilliant mentor. I learnt tremendously from his dynamic capabilities, and I received guidance and inspiration from him.
Ransacking
the memory lane, I am overwhelmed by a plethora of reminiscences about this
extraordinary person. He was kind-hearted. He was large-hearted. He, like a
true patriarch, realised the heavy responsibilities as the Revenue Minister and
as the Chief Minister of Bihar- a historic State in India. As the head of a
large extended family, he was fully aware of his immense obligations. My view
is that the most striking thing which struck me on observing him was his
deep affection and attachment existing among all the members of his big family.
There were some marvellous instances of such cohesion and adjustment, but such
homogeneity in Indian families is few and far between.
There
was another strain in his character. He was an extremely methodical person in
his daily life and domestic environment. Very few had any inkling that he
exercised a critical look at the expenses incurred daily. He scanned the daily
accounts of expenditure at the fag end of each day when the household chores
came to a halt. But he calculated the unavoidable monetary requirements of each
member of his family and made ample provision for each of them. He also helped
his friends financially whenever they faced economic blizzards. Outwardly, he
seemed a tough person and occasionally even a callous person. But it was a
camouflage. Inwardly and inherently, he was mild and soft-hearted. In fact, he
was a sensitive, kind-hearted soul since his very childhood. One instance will
illustrate it. Once his father, Officer-in-Charge of a Police Station, went out
of his headquarters for some urgent work. He left a servant to look after his
son. He had instructed his son to use the milk of his domestic cow after
milking it personally. He had also requested his colleague, another
Sub-inspector of Police, to take care of the young person during his absence.
The other S.I., intelligent but callous, wondered about one curious thing: how
could the young man consume the entire milk every day?
He
thought it was fishy. One day, while K.B. Sahay was absent from the government
quarter, the police officer interrogated the servant about the consumption of
milk. The servant, simple-minded as he was, told the truth that Krishna Ballabh
offered him half of the milk daily, while the other half was consumed by his
young malik. The police officer was annoyed beyond measure. He gave a thorough
thrashing to the poor servant for no fault of his. He beat him blue and black.
The beating was so merciless that several bruises occurred on his body. When
Krishna Ballabh returned to the police quarter, he was horrified to see the
pitiable plight of the servant. He applied the healing balm to the poor victim.
As a protest, he left the thana premises. In fact, he never visited the thana
again so long as the callous police officer remained in that thana.
As
already alluded to, K.B. Sahay relieved the distress and worries of his friends
whenever the dire situation warranted it. But he never divulged the names of
such friends. In fact, he exercised precaution to keep mum. He never
entertained any idea of lowering his friends in the estimation of other
people.
I
would like to refer to two instances revealing his outspokenness and
truthfulness. One instance related to the Sathi land, which had raised a lot of
dust throughout India. K.B. Sahay was anxious to meet the late Sardar Vallabh
Bhai Patel, the then Home Minister of India in order to apprise him about the
correct particulars. Dr Sri Krishna Sinha, the then Chief Minister of Bihar,
deputed him along with Pandit Binodanand Jha to contact Sardar Patel in Delhi.
K.B. Sahay had an exclusive interview with the ‘Iron Man of India’. As soon as
he entered the chamber, Sardar started a volley of questions on the Sathi land
issue. In anger, he clinched the matter by loudly declaring that the Sathi land
must be returned. But K.B. Sahay was equally adamant and dogmatic. With a rare
tone of assertiveness and guts, he retorted that the Sathi land would not be
returned. Sardar glared hard at K.B. Sahay. He interrogated the Bihar leader
searchingly and asked why. K.B. Sahay apprised him about the minute details. He
was fully equipped with all relevant papers and documents. The Sardar, a hard-boiled,
pragmatic figure, calmed down in the face of hard logic. The details embodied in
the documents disarmed him. Ultimately, he concurred with the version of the
Revenue Minister of Bihar.
Belonging
to a middle-class family, K.B. Sahay was a leader of the masses. He did not
reside in the ivory tower. He knew the pulse of the masses, the teeming
millions of Bihar state. He grappled with their manifold problems. His work
routine was unconventional. His morning started at 3.00 a.m. in the unearthly
hours. His P.A.s, assistants, and orderlies had a hard time. He never condoned
any delay in the disposal of the files. What is more remarkable is that he
thoroughly studied all the files diligently and critically. His decision was
prompt. There were hardly any ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’.
One
remarkable phenomenon about him is worth mentioning. He had an uncanny memory.
He never forgot any incident, however trivial, in his life. Instinctively and
temperamentally, he was a Socialist par excellence. He had watched thousands of
people in distress, in agony, battling with poverty. Indeed, the poverty and
indigence of the majority of the people of Bihar State had fully convinced him
at the threshold of his life that Socialism was the only panacea for the
diverse maladies which afflicted the masses. He had an open mind on the major
national issues of that period. For example, he was not in favour of imposing Hindi
throughout the country at one stroke. There was considered tolerance in his
approach to the language issue. Indeed, he was opposed to the idea of
reorganisation of the States in India on the rigid principle of linguistic
chauvinism. No doubt, he advocated the enrichment of the Hindi language. But he
counselled patience, prudence and gradual implementation in the entire country
on the national language issue. He apprehended danger in foisting Hindi
overnight in the States of Southern India. This was a fine example of his
language farsightedness.
I
saw K.B. Sahay very closely during the period of joy and jubilation. I also saw
him during the period of storm and stress. But I never found him worried,
perturbed or downcast. He smiled equally confidently on all occasions. His face
always radiated with the lines of triumph like the Sun, which emits warmth at
dawn and leaves a trail of glow even on the eve of sunset.
