M. L. Puri - The reminiscences
Col. Nalini Ranjan Bhushan [Brother in Law]
He was Jijaji to me, my loving sister’s husband. I saw a lot more than that in him. A good friend, a very compassionate person and a patient listener who always tried his very best to see your point of view. Though shy by nature, he could floor you with any number of grandmother tales which left you in splitting laughter.
Behind his very friendly and unassuming posture lay a very analytical and purposeful approach to anything he did. He was indeed a rare combination of a slow tortoise and a galloping horse and had uncanny judgement of meting out the right treatment warranted by the situation.
He could say ‘NO’ without ever actually saying so. Hurting any ones feelings was possibly one of the cardinal sins in his dictionary. A dedicated team player who stood out head and shoulders above the pack by virtue of his diligence, sacrificing nature and sharpness of intellect. If ego was to meet it’s match against humility, it was in Puri Saheb’s personality, both in thought as well as in actions.
More often than not relationships lead to biased assessments and one could hold me guilty of some misdemeanour. But point out one known person who didn’t like / respect him and I would smilingly put my neck under the guillotine.
May god bless his noble soul. And for you and me, picking him up as one’s role model would indeed be a very wise step.
Other reminiscences: