Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh is terrified of pigs. They remind him of his younger days when he would double up on a stool to save himself from the hovering hordes on the ground. Apart from the stench, it was impossible to do business doubled up atop a stool. But that was all he had in the name of a clinic, courtesy the basti paanwallah who took off every Saturday.
The story runs thus. Pitching his hopes on his grandson, Raman Singh’s grandfather named him after scientist CV Raman. Raman, in turn, managed a degree in Ayurveda but could not go beyond being ‘Dr Sahib’ in his native village Kowardha. Seeing him run from pillar to post, the paanwallah offered his stall as a ‘clinic’ once a week. So village lad Raman Singh became Shanichari daacter (Saturday doctor).
Berry emosional is how wife Veena Singh describes him, boasting, Jab hamaare saath hote hain to aaj bhi duniya bhool jaate hain (When he is with me, he forgets the world). Encore Raman, who admits that he carts the matthaa (buttermilk) she lovingly prepares for him all the way to Delhi. That and the patli roti which she layers with butter, jaggery and sometimes churan powder flown in from Kanpur. Apart from the doodh roti to round off dinner, Raman Singh is a weight-watcher. A regular at the gym, he coaxes Veena to jump on to the treadmill because Main thora moti hoon.
Raman Singh’s political career has altered the family’s schedule. They spend most of the day sleeping to stay up at night when he returns, often past midnight, to break bread with his family. Ask Veena what ‘Sahib’ is fond of and she tells you, “Coat, pant, joota, chappal, ghari aur chashma.” Birthdays are strictly family affairs, complete with akhand deepak (24-hour lamp) and kheer prasad (offering of rice pudding).
{{/usCountry}}Raman Singh’s political career has altered the family’s schedule. They spend most of the day sleeping to stay up at night when he returns, often past midnight, to break bread with his family. Ask Veena what ‘Sahib’ is fond of and she tells you, “Coat, pant, joota, chappal, ghari aur chashma.” Birthdays are strictly family affairs, complete with akhand deepak (24-hour lamp) and kheer prasad (offering of rice pudding).
{{/usCountry}}Their wedding, 27 years ago, was an accident. Veena’s father was match-making for her cousin when he spotted Raman: Dacter aur achhi kaathi (Doctor and a good physique), recalls Veena, “pitajeene socha mere liye theek hai.”
For Raman, marriage also brought bare pitajee and political mentor Union Minister Arjun Singh into his life, a fact that Veena tries to keep under wraps. Cajole her and she is all praise for Arjun Singh, saying that if anyone were able to achieve a fraction of what he has in political life, it would be commendable. Anyone in Raman Singh’s BJP listening?