It is not easy to forego the position that could make you command with power and authority. But Darshan Lal Jain has done it several times by renouncing many politically authoritative opportunities in the past.
This is because he doesn¡¯t believe in serving the nation through politics, which he says can adulterate the intention of selfless social service.??
Jain who is 91 years old, recently received a letter from the Home Secretary of India for he is chosen to be awarded ¡®Padma Bhushan¡¯, the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, for his distinguished social service.
Primarily raised by his mother, Jain was born in an exceptionally well-to-do business family based in distt. Yamunanagar, Haryana. However, he was inclined towards serving the nation and society since his early days.?
¡°I worked with Indian National Congress when I was nearly 15 years old, but soon I realized, it was hard to find a way toward social service through politics.
It was because the party then lacked young people who could work on novel ideas for serving the nation. So I moved on and joined RSS in 1944¡± said Jain in an interview.?
Jain had quit his home to travel and embark on a journey of social service. However, due to his grave health reasons he had to return to his home town, but he remained unstoppable for his dedication towards social service.
Witnessing his relentless focus into all that he was doing, Jain was offered the ticket of Member of Legislative Council (MLC) by ¡®Bharatiya Jan Sangh¡¯, an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977. However Jain bluntly refused the ticket for he never saw coherence between politics and unconditional social service.??
¡°I don¡¯t believe in pushing others for social service, and neither do I believe that politics is the way. To inspire others, I believe in my own self becoming a living example for social service ¨C and I am still doing it. This is how I was able to gather many like-minded people from all strata of society to join me in my efforts for community and nationalistic welfare¡± humbly mentioned Jain.?
One of the many people Jain inspired was Bharat Bhushan Kaushik, former Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Jagadhri in distt. Yamunanagar.??
Kaushik said, ¡°Earlier, I was a principal magistrate of Juvenile Justice Board. I had witnessed numerous children involved in crimes. So I decided to dedicate my spare time in bringing awareness among children for leading a dignified life. It was Darshan Lal Jain, who inspired and guided me through this noble cause. He is a living legend.¡±
Kaushik had been visiting many government schools regularly to inspire children in leading a good life.?
Jain has founded several non-profit organisations that are successfully operating today. He has also championed the cause of educating girls and poor children through quite a few non-commercial educational institutions he helped set up.
In addition, Jain is the Founder President of the famous ¡®Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Sansthan¡¯ (SNSD), an initiative formed in 1999 to revive Sarasvati river.
Interestingly, Jain has been refusing monetary help from all the governments he has seen in power for this initiative. He says, such money may bring a lot of unwanted complication with it. He prefers to operate at his own steady pace through gathering charity from like-minded people.
¡°It was the UPA-2 government who supported the SNSD initiative around the year 2009. They helped dig an old creek of Sarasvati river. Recently, according to sources, it is established that the river is found flowing 500 meters below that area. That¡¯s a great achievement for us¡± Jain added.
Jain, who has also been a former RSS Haryana state president, says that Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam is his role model. He also added, ¡°Dr. Kalam believed in one nation for all, regardless of their caste, creed or religion. I had always wished for Dr. Kalam to become our president again. These are the kind of citizens and leaders we need, who live and serve for the nation.¡±
The author is a Haryana-based freelance contributor.