While many will laud Arun Jaitley’s political career and address his public persona, the true measure of a man is how he gave of himself to others. It is an intangible, unquantifiable quality. Especially, if he himself never boasted about what he did for others. When my father’s soul left his body, dozens of strangers came out of the woodwork to tell us amazing stories of how he had helped them. We did not know. Quietly, he had been paying for someone’s college in the US, another said he came to him during the Partition wearing only a vest, a woman who said he had intervened to stop a forced marriage, too many to list. Similarly, it will be impossible to find a friend of Arun Jaitley’s who does not have a story. Although, he loved to talk about anything and everything, full of fascinating stories, one never heard him tell a story about how he helped someone.
Every person in Jaitley’s office was helped to buy or build their own home. He paid for their children’s education. A junior clerk’s son is now a practicing lawyer. Legal interns were paid with expensive legal books which they could not afford. He followed and mentored scores of young lawyers, advising them carefully on how to chart their careers. He kept track of their personal lives. Young politicians sat in AIIMS speaking about how he had mentored them. He picked up medical bills for countless people, especially children. Arun had a special fondness and joy in children. His only return was their respect and love.
