‘Simple, humble’: Badal’s village honours its Bapu ji
BADAL : For a 21-year-old inmate of Chaudhary Devi Lal Old-age Home and orphanage at Badal village in Muktsar, Jagseer Singh, the death of the former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal came as a personal loss.
“I felt as if I lost my father. I came to this shelter home at a very young age with my grandparents after my father passed away. Pita Ji, as he fondly calls Badal, always showered love on me. Once I hesitantly expressed my wish to have a pair of expensive shoes for my practice of mat wrestling. The next morning, shoes were gifted to me,” said Jagseer, a budding wrestler.
Another resident of the centre established by the late leader in 2005, Priyanka said: “Bapu Ji encouraged me and my younger brother to pursue studies and take a sport.”
“Our father died in 2010 while our mother left this world much earlier. Our lives were changed after we were brought to this orphanage-cum-old age home. Bapu Ji took a personal interest to ensure all inmates of the centre are taken care of. On every Diwali, we were presented with a new set of clothes and a basket full of crackers and sweets. News of Bapu Ji’s death shattered us,” said Priyanka, a student of Class 12. On Thursday, shops in Badal village remained shut as a mark of respect to the departed leader.
Midha Singh, 80, who retired after serving as Badal’s cook for more than four decades, recalls the late leader as a man with simple food habits and an occasional whisky consumer.
“Badal Saab and his late brother Gurdas Badal used to call me Bai (or brother as called in Malwai dialect). I was among 600 members of his baraat to Chak Fateh Singhwala village in Bathinda where we stayed overnight under a tent. Today, I felt pained at his demise and my failing health did not allow me to visit him in the hospital,” said Midha.
“He never asked for any special food for himself. Seasonal vegetables like pumpkin, sarson da saag and lentils were cooked every day for the entire Badal family and the same was served as langar to the visitors,” said Midha. One of the mourners, Baldev Singh Dhillon, who worked as a driver for the Badal family’s public transport company for nearly 40 years, recalls the late leader’s simplicity and composure.
“On several occasions during elections, I was called by Badal Saab to drive his car. I always heard him discussing politics while travelling despite his illhealth. Once during electioneering in Phagwara, Badal Saab did not take his medicine and the host doctor directed me to ensure that he takes pills after a meal. I brought a couple of rotis wrapped in a cloth and following my request, he grabbed a quick bite with onion while standing on the roadside,” said Dhillon.
For a septuagenarian homemaker Balbir Kaur, Badal was the epitome of rural development. “You cannot spot a drop on roads at Badal and villages of Lambi constituency during rains as Badal Saab got state-ofthe-art drainage system laid. Development has changed the lives of villagers of this land of tibbas or sand dunes,” she said.
Village panch Nachhatar Singh, who was overseeing arrangements for the former CM’s last rites at the village, recalls Badal as a down-to-earth man. “In spite of having a towering political personality, he always showed humility. During Diwali, he often used to ask me to get him ‘gur wali matthi’ to munch with tea,” said the panch. Charanjit Singh, a member of the inner party circle, said Badal was a fitness freak whose day began at 4am for a session of yoga. Another villager Labh Singh said four schools, an ITI, fine rural roads, kinnow vaxing and packaging facility and a covered drainage system at Badal speak volumes of development activities at initiated by the former CM.
“He opened a private women’s college to provide affordable education and also modern shooting ranges that pushed youth towards sports. He was bearing education bills for scores of students from underprivileged families,” said Singh, a close aide of Badal.