One late dusky evening in 2011, Prashant Bhushan and I were chatting on our drive back after a two day meet on Lokpal Bill in a remote, dusty village in Rajasthan. The jeep was crammed with activists of all varieties and shapes. Prashant, seated next to me in the front seat, was known to me from common friends and I had followed his immense contribution to democracy through his legal work. Earlier that afternoon, another respected, strong willed and controversially outspoken activist had charged at Prashant for including the dubious figures like Kiran Bedi (how prescient of him) within IAC fold (AAP had not been formulated by then). I was chatting with Prashant about everything from Manmohan Singh's PHD thesis (Prashant had earnestly taken the time on his family trip to visit Oxford to browse through Dr Singh's thesis) to our observations on traversing the glaciers of Alaska. My personal objective for many years had been to know, understand and learn from leading figures whose work had influenced India. The attack during the debate had been quite vicious, challenging the very sanity or judgment of Prashant's. However, Prashant did not lose his calm throughout the chaotic proceedings held in a parliament-like-dome hall in the middle of nowhere, yet in the very heart of India, with scores of leading activists present. I gingerly broached the matter of afternoon row wondering how he had maintained such equanimity in that heated argument. Prashant, the veteran of many a testy law room tussles, responded simply without rhetoric or pomp (paraphrasing) - The success of IAC has given my voice a disproportionate weight and power. I have to be careful of what I say and accept the criticism as much as the praise.
Ever since, I have kept that comment (and many others that afternoon) and its spirit close to my heart. From that meeting and several such talks, I knew the man believes in the concept of self check, is against personality cult and for decentralization of power.
PS: In Mar 2015, Prashant was ousted from PAC of AAP for the above beliefs.
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