Met a gorgeous Lady

 Met a gorgeous Lady

I met a gorgeous lady in Delhi this week. When she introduced herself as Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi (IFS:1970), I couldn’t catch her surname. When I asked her again she replied with a broad smile on her face. ‘Uban is my surname from my father and Tripathi is a surname from my husband’. Uban was their native place located in North West Frontier Province. Her father was a Captain in Indian Army and was posted in Delhi at the time of partition of India. Her grandmother was living in Ravalpindi. When she was to move to Delhi as Pakistan was formed, she denied by saying राजाओ का बँटवारा होता है, प्रजा का बँटवारा नहीं होता। However, the family somehow convinced her to come to Delhi as her daughter in law was expecting a delivery of her first baby (Ms. Shashi). She came but was saying that she would return to Ravalpindi after three four months. She couldn’t because the situation worsen thereafter. 

Whomsoever the migrants one meets, their love and attachment to their native land and love to the people of that land are visible on their face and expressions. Many of them don’t carry the hatred of partition instead remember the days of loving relationships of both the communities. Destiny had scattered their lives. The act of violences by some anti socials and misguided youths hurt both the communities badly resulting in killings of one million people and displacement of 15 million. They couldn’t forget, the warmth of relations as well a the unfortunate partition. However, life has to move forward. 

Ms. Shashi was born in the year of Partition of India. After her graduation, she joined IFS:1970 and served in the External Affairs Ministry and abroad as Ambassador & High Commissioner to Poland, Zimbabwe and Canada. Her husband Manilal Tripathi was also from IFS:1970 had served on various capacities as diplomat of India. Ms. Shashi served as Member of UPSC post retirement. 

She was sharing anecdotes. It was Indian PMs visit to Moscow in 1979. He was accompanied by the MFA Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mr. Gujaral was the Ambassador. The couple was serving as First Secretary in the Indian Embassy of Moscow. The Embassy had prepared the toast speech of H’ble PM in English. But when Mr. Vajpayee came to know that the USSR President Brezhnev was going to toast in Russian, he proposed that our PM would toast in Hindi. But who would translate? There was no facility of translator and the officers and staff were carrying english background. Finally, Mr. Vajpayee himself translated the speech and gave dictation to Ms. Shashi who wrote it down on a paper neatly. PM Morarjibhai read the toast speech in Hindi. What a coincidence it was that the three men present in the event Morarjibhai, Vajpayee and Gujaral became the PM of India. 

At 76, she carries childlike innocence and her face lights up with her smile. She is a diplomat in action, very courteous, speaks precisely, reads carefully, writes neatly and verifying before sending the note to another hand. I read somewhere that neat handwriting is a sign of organization and discipline. Furthermore, people who write neatly tend to be reliable and dedicated. They are conscientious and take a pride in their work. They have a strong work ethic and are meticulous about following instructions and procedures. I could mark all these qualities present in Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi. Our salutes to her.🙏🙏🙏

Punamchand 

13 November 2024

New Delhi