Indira, Sanjay and Rajiv are flying in a helicopter over India. Indira asks Sanjay- If you had Rs.100, what will you do with it to draw voters to Congress?
Sanjay replies --I will drop it from the helicopter. The person who finds it will vote for me.
Indira advises -- I will convert it into 100 Re 1 notes and drop it. That way I will get 100 votes.
Rajiv interjects -- I will pocket the 100 rupee note and throw both of you out of the helicopter. The entire country will vote for me.
It was winter of January 1976. The Congress Plenary session at Komagata Maru Nagar had just got over. My father's cousin was a congress delegate. He paid us a visit after the session. Late at night politics was being discussed and I was mocking the slogan that was all over the place - Aapatkaal ek anushasan parva hai - when there was a knock on the window. It was a spy -he advised my father not to discuss so openly - Six months into emergency, already people were being spied on. Those who did not live in Delhi during emergency may not realize how tenuous was democracy then.
It was during 1975 or 1976. We were in school. Our school was one of about half a dozen in Pusa Road. Around 1pm a sea of parents laid seige to the schools as a rumour had spread that children were being sterilized. No social media, even penetration of telephone was low.
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