‘Pranab da taught me all about budgets’

PRANAB Mukherjee had a fairly smallish room for his office in the building. The room may have been small, but he never stopped anyone from entering it and having a quick chat.

It was some time early in

1999 that I first met Pranab Mukherjee. I had just been posted in New Delhi as Deccan Chronicle’s correspondent. Duties included ‘covering’ the Congress, the primary opposition, while Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister.

24 Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters, soon became a regular haunt and it was not very long before I began getting to know people there and they me. Pranab Mukherjee, a redoubtable senior Congress leader, had a fairly smallish room for his office in the building. The room may have been small, but he never stopped anyone from entering it and having a quick chat.

One day, after the daily media briefing, I wanted to know more about some facts and figures related to the economy and the budget. And the best person to explain was Pranab da.

I had in the past squeezed into his room along with other ‘wellestablished’ Delhi journos who knew him for a long time. But this time was different. He did not know me at all, I was still a greenhorn as far as 24

Akbar Road was concerned. I was apprehensive but I clearly remember how warm and welcoming Pranab Mukherjee was as I asked him if I could enter his office. I also clearly recall how he ordered some samosas for me as we got down to business.

As I told him I was having some difficulty in reading the country’s budget and had questions. He answered my questions and we spent about and hour or so discussing the budget. And then he made an offer I could not refuse.

“Come home tomorrow morning and I will teach you how to read the budget,” Pranab Mukherjee had said. For me it was a double delight. Pranab da would get to know me a little more. On top of that, I probably just landed the best teacher as far as reading a government budget and understanding it was concerned.

The next day I showed up at his residence in the morning, around 11 am if I recall correctly and he spent the next two hours explaining how a budget is prepared, how to read and understand the numbers and what each ‘head’ of the budget meant.

And that was only the first lesson. After that day, I visited him at his house several times to sit with him and learn more about country’s economy and budget preparations.

He was a willing teacher and I wish I was a better student. Today, at his passing, I grieve the loss of one of the best teachers I ever had.