A 94-year-old man was thrown out of his rented house by the landlord for not paying the rent. The old man had hardly any belongings except for an old bed, some aluminum utensils, a plastic bucket, a mug, etc. The old man asked the landlord to give him more time to pay the rent. The neighbors also took pity on the old man, and they convinced the landlord to give him some time to pay the rent. The landlord reluctantly gave in and agreed.
The old man then took his belongings inside.
A journalist, passing by, stopped and saw the whole incident. He thought it useful to publish the matter in his newspaper. He even thought up a headline, "Cruel landlord kicks old man out of rented house for money." Then he took some photos of the old tenant and the rented house.
The journalist told his press owner about the incident. The owner of the press looked at the pictures and was shocked. He asked the journalist, did he recognize the old man? The journalist said no.
The next day, the story was on the front page of the newspaper. The title was, "Gulzarilal Nanda, former Prime Minister of India, leading a miserable life". It was described how the former Prime Minister was unable to pay the rent and, how, he was thrown out of the house. It also commented that nowadays politicians earn a lot of money. However, a person who has been a Prime Minister twice, and a Union Minister for a long time, does not even have a house of his own.
Actually Gulzarilal Nanda is entitled to Rs. 500/- per month but, he rejected this money, saying that he did not fight for the pension of freedom fighters. Later friends forced him to accept the money since he does not have other sources of income. He used this pension money to support himself and pay the rent.
The next day, the current Prime Minister sent ministers and officials to check on that old man. The landlord was stunned to see a fleet of VIP vehicles. It was only then, that he came to know his tenant was Mr. Gulzarilal Nanda, the former Prime Minister of India. The landlord immediately knelt at the feet of Gulzarilal Nanda and apologized for his previous behavior.
Officials and VIPs requested Gulzarilal Nanda to accept a government accommodation and other facilities, but he would not: saying that such things are not necessary at this old age. Till his last breath, he lived as a true Gandhian, like an ordinary citizen. In 1997, the government honored him with the Bharat Ratna.
Just compare his life with our present politicians.
(Posted on 15th, Jan 2022 - 23rd anniversary of his death)
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