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He has authored
various commentaries on statute law and other legal subjects. He has also
published some literary works in Hindi: In English,
besides commentaries on certain Acts (including local Acts) and articles
in law magazines, a collection of his essays on landmark judgments of
the Supreme Court has been published under the caption.
PROFESSOR
RAJENDRA SINGH The following article is an excerpt from the book 'A Lawyer's World and Childhood Dreams'
RAJJU BHAIYA AS
I KNOW HIM
Prof. Rajendra Singh or Rajju
Bhaiya as he is known, is Sar-Sangh Chalak of Rashtriya Swayam
Sewak Sangh; RSS Chief in Rajju Bhaiya’s father Balbir Singh hailed from village Barnail in district Bulandshahr. He was good in mathematics. His teacher thought that he should opt for engineering. That is how he landed up in Roorkee Engineering College, the best in those days; sometime in 1915. He set up new records. He was a gold medalist in studies and was the athletic champion. A record equalled only once since then. Balbir Singh retired as the first Indian Chief Engineer (Irrigation). He was married to Jwala Devi, ‘jiyaji’ as we fondly remember her. He had five children. Rajju Bhaiya was the middle one, sandwiched between two elder sisters and two younger brothers. Rajju Bhaiya was born on 29th January 1921 and after a brief stint at Modern School, Delhi was sent to St. Joseph Nainital for his schooling. He came to Allahabad University in 1939 for his university education. He secured 5th position in his BSc and 2nd in M.Sc (Physics). He joined RSS in 1942 while doing his post graduation. There was a chance that he may have chosen another line. Sir CV Raman was his examiner in MSc finals for theory as well as practical. He had examined his copies and taken his viva-voce. Raman wanted to take him to Bangalore. But Prof. KS Krishnan, the then head refused. Homi Bhabha had taken Harishchandra the person who had topped in that batch. Prof. Krishnan wanted some one to stay in Allahabad. Rajju Bhaiya Joined Physics Department of the Allahabad University and is rated to be the finest teacher to have ever walked on the corridors of the university. Rajju Bhaiya often talks about Harishchandra and says he would have got Noble prize if there were one in Mathematics. May be. But if Rajju Bhaiya had gone with Raman then second Indian would have got Noble prize in physics much earlier. I remember 1964, the time when Tokyo Olympics were being held. He was reading a newspaper. He says, ‘Have you noticed the timing of 100 meters and 4 x 100 meter relay race?’ ‘I had seen but I read it again. The timing for 100 meters was about 10 seconds and 4 x 100-meter relay was about 38 second. How was it possible? How could 4 people take less than 10 seconds to run 100 metres when the fastest man took more than 10 second. I thought it must have been printing mistake. I checked other newspapers. But they had printed the same thing. Then he explained to me the catch. Most of the time is taken from the start of the race till the maximum speed is attained i.e. in the first 15 metres. In the relay race baton is exchanged only when the person has run 15 metre and has attained his maximum speed. This is how the time is saved. Rajju Bhaiya used to play squash and tennis in his University years. But in later years, he would talk about tennis. There used to be Central Indian Lawn Tennis Championship in Allahabad in those days. Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle, Martin, Muligan, Bob Hewitt, Ion Tiriac, Nastase and the Indian players Ramanathan Krishnan and Vijai Amritraj have played here. Sometimes, he would be there to see the matches. In one of the matches where Nastase was playing, he asked me, ‘Why does Nastase use so much of top spin.’ I answered, ‘Consistency. The ball is able to clear the net then it drops.’ But why it is so? Then he went on to explain Bernoulli’s principle to me. The air pressure at the top was higher than at the bottom, due to topspin. This is the reason for dropping of the ball. He would also explain that the Bernoulli’s principle is the reason why a cricket ball swings or football swerves or the aeroplanes fly. He would often ask questions; puzzles. One of the puzzles, which I still remember, goes like this. There are 12 balls. All of them have the same shape and 11 of them have same mass/weight. One of them is either heavier or lighter. One has to find out the faulty one with the help of a physical balance by weighing the balls only three times.[1] He still has that temperament. Sometime back there was a talk; statues of ‘Ganeshji’ were drinking of milk. Rajju Bhaiya was in Allahabad on that date. Many came and told him about this and wondered if it was something supernatural. To all he would answer, it is not supernatural, but the reason is scientific; surface tension. He would add, ‘I don’t think that God can be so cruel as to drink milk in a country where crores of children go to sleep without getting a drop of it.[2] He is considerate and understands the problems well. Once his train was reaching late in the night. He chose to spend the night at the station than to inconvenience anyone. Rajju Bhaiya is not a public speaker or orator. Normally he speaks before RSS volunteers though sometimes the public attends his meetings. He is clear, precise and to the point. His manner of speech makes him one of the finest speakers in Hindi. He does not speak in English. But when he went to USA in 1982 to address a conference there, he was supposed to speak in English. Which he did. When he finished his speech it was a unanimous opinion that his speech was the finest that they had ever heard. Sometime back I was sad I had to kill my dogs.[3] They were suffering from incurable disease. He told me, ‘Don’t grieve. It was best for them. Life is meant to be given to others and not to be taken from others. Self-pity is not a virtue.’
This would come back again.
Few years ago physics department of the University of Allahabad had
organised a function to bid farewell to Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi on his 60th
birthday. Rajju Bhaiya was there.
What is his philosophy? What has governed his life? Tape recorders were a novelty in our childhood. We had purchased one and were recording our favourite songs/ poems. Rajju Bhaiya was also there. We requested him to say some thing. He recited, a poem, a GEET; the one closest to his heart: the one which has governed his life: the one he has lived by: the one he would like all of us to follow. Here it is. This is how it goes: -
[1] You may think it is impossible, but it can be solved. You take eight balls. Keep four on each of the scales. If they are equal then it is quite easy. If they are not then the second weighing is crucial. You take out two from one side and one from the other. Keep one good ball in the side from where two balls have been taken and interchange one ball, then weigh. Thereafter it is easy to figure out. [2] Many prominent persons, Science teachers were at that time saying that it is supernatural. Many were disappointed when Rajju Bhaiya gave that answer. [3] Kindly see the article Euthanasia. |
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