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Opinion | The Goan connection I had with Parrikar

ByKaran Thapar
Mar 24, 2019 11:27 AM IST

“Here”, he said, as he held out his hand. “This is good coffee. Not the dreadful Nescafe they drink in North India!” It was an act of kindness that was typical of the man

I can’t claim to have known Manohar Parrikar well but what I knew of him I liked. He was warm, affable, candid and a very accessible politician. He may not have been the most fluent of speakers but he was among the most frank. And when he wanted, he could be delightfully indiscreet.

I first met him in the early 2000s when he was chief minister of Goa and my colleague and former producer, Ashok Upadhyay, invited him to be a guest on the BBC programme, Question Time India. We were recording at Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) auditorium and I walked up to greet him as his car drove in.

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“I know your secret,” he said with a large smile as we shook hands. I was quite taken aback. Parrikar laughed. He knew he had me stumped. “I know about your Goan connection.”

Parrikar did not reveal how he had found out that my late wife, Nisha, was Goan. But I was rather chuffed that he had made the effort. Years later, when he was defence minister, he would joke about my Goa connection. In early January 2015, I rang to ask for an interview. “It’s the son-in-law of Goa!” And he laughed heartily. “How can I refuse?”

This was his first television interview as defence minister and Parrikar was staying in a small apartment in Kota House. It was fixed for 2 o’clock but when I arrived I found he was running late. “Come in and join me,” he shouted from an adjacent room. “I’m having lunch and I’ve got some lovely Goan food which you’ll enjoy.”

Though it was a bitterly cold day in early January, I found him dressed in a bush-shirt and sandals. Just looking at him made me shiver. Parrikar, of course, was unaffected by the temperature.

Alas, he was eating prawns and I’m allergic to them. So I sipped coffee instead. “You don’t know what you’re missing,” Parrikar said. “How can you like Goan food and not be able to eat our prawns and crabs?” That reminded me of Nisha. She would often suggest I have an antihistamine and then indulge myself. I never had the guts to try.

Even as defence minister, Parrikar was always accessible on his mobile. If you called and he was busy, he would promise to ring back and unfailingly did. On one occasion when he had taken a little longer than normal, I bumped into him in the Gymkhana club dining room. I was with friends when he walked past our table. Recognising me, he stopped and turned around. “I haven’t forgotten to return your call.” There was a smile on his lips. “But I know why you have rung. You want an interview and I’ll fix the date tomorrow.”

It was the last I did with him. This time it happened early in the morning at his Akbar Road home. The crew and I were ready and waiting when he walked in carrying two cups of coffee.

“Here”, he said, as he held out his hand. “This is good coffee. Not the dreadful Nescafe they drink in North India!” It was an act of kindness that was typical of the man.

I only spoke to him once after he took over as chief minister of Goa in 2017. I rang to congratulate him. “Come to Goa and I’ll give you an interview,” he said. Sadly, I didn’t make it and now when I do, it will be too late.

Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story

The views expressed are personal

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