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Why bhajans are his lullabies: Different Strokes with law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
Ravi Shankar Prasad is one of the few ministers after Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is the go-to person for a lowdown on what is happening in the government
Much has changed in Ravi Shankar Prasad’s life since college: from playing the mouth organ and whistling the all-time favourite mere sapnon ki raani kab aayegi tu to waking up to the hymns of Vishnu Sahasranamam; from riding a second- hand bike to having a fleet of cars; from being mentored by Lal Krishna Advani to coming into his own; and from being chided by Atal Bihari Vajpayee for criticizing Indira Gandhi, to measuring his words.
That last bit has been a bit tough because Prasad, once he starts speaking, cannot hold back. He loves an audience. He is one of the few ministers after Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is the go-to person for a lowdown on what is happening in the government. This makes him among the few to dispel the notion that there is a gag order on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s team.
Prasad has long given up playing the mouth organ, that being a hazy memory now. “A sweet instrument but a part of my past now,” he says, likening it to the second-hand bicycle which he rode to school.
“Till I got the cycle I used to walk six kilometres to reach school. The first road that I had constructed from my MP fund was the one to my school.”
The one lesson that Prasad learnt from his father and then passed on to his kids was to “remain grounded”. His father, Thakur Prasad, was among the founding members of the Jan Sangh, so politics is deeply ingrained in the family.
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Ravi Shankar Prasad’s sister, Anurradha, is married to senior Congress leader Rajiv Shukla.
From his mother, Prasad learnt the essence of religion: “She is a great devotee… she loves and also sings bhajans,” he says. Even as Prasad rose through the ranks to the position of a minister, he still remains his mother’s ‘babbu’.
Bhajans are Prasad’s lullabies. Whether it is ‘Mharo Pranam’ or ‘He Mero Man Mohana’ by Kishori Amonkar or Kabir’s ‘Re Man Murakh Janam Gavayo’ rendered by Channulal Mishra, he needs his daily dose. Initially it was a bit of a struggle to appreciate the nuances, but once there, Prasad settled in rather well. “Initially I was comfortable only with instrumental music, listening to Vilayat Khan and Amjad Ali Khan till I graduated to spiritual music - bhajans and sufi. Now it is only vocal.” Music apart, Prasad loves to watch dance performances and is “a die-hard fan of Sitara Devi.”
A lawyer in the longstanding Ayodhya title suit, Prasad is a devotee of Lord Krishna. “It was by chance that I participated in Banke Bihari’s phool bangla or House of Flowers and I was mesmerized,” he says.
The ritual in Mathura entails bedecking statues of the deities in flowers, scrubbing the temple clean, pouring gallons of rose water on the idol and savouring the chappan bhog or the 56 varieties of Prasad. “Anand, sheer joy…ecstasy,” he says.
Prasad describes his sartorial style as “comfortable and hassle-free.” It’s why he favours loafers, he says. “They save time because you do not have to tie laces. And can take them off during meetings and relax your feet.”
With Bruno his pet dog gone, there is no fear of footwear being chewed up anymore. But there is still Bojo, a Labrador, who always runs away with one sock, sending Prasad in a tizzy.
