By Faraz Ahmad, IANS
New Delhi : All shops in the lane behind former prime minister Chandra Shekhar's residence at 3, South Avenue closed down the moment the news of his death spread and ordinary people, many not directly related to politics, started pouring in to pay their last respects.
Chandra Shekhar did not have any significant political organization and since 1991 had been marginalized from mainstream politics to command any significant political clout. Thus, most of those who flocked to his house were there of their own volition.
The lane behind his home has a small nameless restaurant, some launderers and a few general merchants stocking items of daily use for the area's residents.
This lone restaurant has undergone a sea change from the days when in 1990, Chandra Shekhar's residence was the hub of dissident politics against the government of then prime minister V.P. Singh.
The room where Chandra Shekhar's body lay in state on Sunday did not exist those days. This structure came up for the benefit of his former personal secretary Gautam soon after Chandra Shekhar deposed Singh after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew support to his government and became the prime minister with the help of the Congress.
In those days, the restaurant's business rose phenomenally, what with newsmen and Chandra Shekhar supporters thronging the place all the time.
Over the years, the restaurant has acquired a new look, and better furniture, with the dirty wooden benches and tables being replaced. But like Chandra Shekhar himself, the rise in its fortunes has not made any difference to the restaurant's character.
In fact, Chandra Shekhar's personality and that of the restaurant have got so intermingled that despite a road passing in between them, the eatery appears an extension of the former prime minister's household.
The restaurant was the place where the likes of H.N. Sharma and other long time Chandra Shekhar loyalists often sat and shared tea with newsmen. On Sunday, the old timers sat unobtrusively on the lawns mourning his death as the restaurant too did so by quietly downing its shutters.
There was a strange charisma in this tall and dark Hindi-speaking man from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh who studied at Allahabad University that drew diverse personalities towards him.
Congress leaders might not have got along with Chandra Shekhar but this did not deter party president Sonia Gandhi from being one of the earliest to arrive at his residence to condole his death.
This was in sharp contrast to the scene at the residence of former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao on the day he passed away. Rao died almost alone, with hardly any Congressman, with the exception of Manmohan Singh, showing up.
In the recent past, there has never been an event where Sonia Gandhi and her estranged sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi have been together at the same venue. On Sunday, both were at Chandra Shekhar's residence, sitting quietly with other women mourners.
Such was Chandra Shekhar's charisma.