Vijay Shanker Singh: A Personification Of Innate Goodness Of Humans

 

By Sameer Arshad Khatlani

In the summer of 2004, I arrived in Delhi for good to live my dream of being a journalist. Though eternally optimistic, lurking fears did weigh me down. A teacher subtly fanning the kind of prejudice that is now in one's face, and some classmates openly expressing it confirmed these fears. Hanging onto my firm belief in the innate goodness of humans was among the ways I dealt with it. The belief has since stood me in good stead.

Vanita Raghuvanshi, one of my classmates at the journalism school, was among the first ones in Delhi to strengthen my belief in the values that I grew up with. She personified what innate goodness means: humans are inherently good and doing good comes naturally to them. Vanita is among the rare people completely devoid of prejudice. Her disarming innocence and pleasant and friendly demeanour offered me a much-needed sense of inclusion to stay the course to live my dream.

Vanita was not alone in being a source of strength while I was finding my feet in a big city. But often their parents gave one a reality check and showed one their place. So, I tended to be a bit wary of meeting the parents of my friends until I met those of Vanita who came across as proverbial breath of fresh air. Vanita has essentially inherited the goodness of her parents, Vibha Singh, a professor, and Vijay Shanker Singh of the elite Indian Police Service.

One of my fondest trips remains to Kanpur, Vanita's hometown in Uttar Pradesh, for her wedding. The affection with which Mrs and Mr Singh received me at their home remains one of my cherished memories. Mr Singh in particular was excited to know about my place of origin—Kashmir—which was often the source of prejudice one faced. He was open to hearing the other side of our contested story. Thus began a bond of mutual respect.

Having served in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh over a distinguished policing career, Mr Singh retained his intellectual sharpness and deep sense of empathy. We particularly stayed in touch after my first book was published in 2020. He was kind enough to review it in the language of the masses of north India—Hindi. Mr Singh would often call me for my alternative view of contested issues and invariably appreciated it.

He had promised to translate one of my essays on Palestine into Hindi. I was waiting to hear from him on this and instead came the devastating news that he passed away on December 9, 2023. His death is an irreparable loss for he personified rare qualities of our times including speaking truth to power. A man of letters, he was a great source of strength with his compassion sense of fairness, and belief in equality. Mr Singh, an alumnus of the prestigious Banaras Hindu University in his native Varanasi, will be dearly missed but remain a source of inspiration.

A student of history, who dabbled in journalism before getting into the prestigious police service, Mr Singh retained his sharp political analysis, and a layered understanding of current affairs, sports, arts, and cinema. A regular columnist in one of the widely read broadsheets, his blog Lok Madhyam is a treasure trove of perspectives on contemporary India that he was a perceptive commentator on.

Sameer Arshad Khatlani is a journalist and the author of The Other Side of the Divide