A life less ordinary

Ashok Lavasa, former Election Commissioner of India, and the current Vice President, Asian Development Bank, Manila, weaves the experiences of his father Udai Singh, a simple, proud but utterly principled man, into the narrative of a fast-changing India to show how his bauji’s principles served as a moral compass in his life-and can in ours too. ‘An Ordinary Life-Portrait of an Indian Generation’ resonates because the timelessness of its values hit home with extraordinary precision

In an era of hyperbole, here’s to the power of understatement. In a world full of bombast, here’s to a simple story told sans embellishment.

We do, after all, live in times when ostentation, noise and power rule.

Ashok Lavasa’s work-“An Ordinary Life-Portrait of an Indian Generation” is one such narrative that must be savoured for this reason alone. Reflective and philosophical, the work is imbued with the grounded wisdom of an earlier Indian generation and its way of life, which seems quite extraordinary to present-day readers.

What it’s about

The world consists mainly of ordinary folks living regular, humdrum lives. Their struggles, losses, hopes and triumphs are rarely heard of because they are deemed just too commonplace. A pity to be sure, because their lives are a vindication of certain lasting values that survive in every society and keep us connected with the unseen forces that pull the strings behind the scenes. The raison de etre of the book is thus explained. “In every society, there are those who think with their heart and feel with their head. They keep working silently, selflessly, and sedulously. They could be around helping the marginalised; they could be away from the public gaze, tilling the soil or tending trees; they could be the unidentified pillars of the system; they may be those writing but not being read; they could be waging little battles, unrecognised. These are the people who rise above their situations, unmindful of their own struggles, with an air of divine indifference.”

In ‘An Ordinary Life’, former Election Commissioner of India, Ashok Lavasa, tells one such warm story. He weaves the experiences of his father, Udai Singh, into the narrative of a fast-changing India to show how his bauji’s principles served as a moral compass in his life-and can in ours too. Through a series of incidents, he explores the virtues of honest living and illustrates that it is possible to prosper in a world of rising aspirations and cut-throat competition while preserving one’s ideals.

• Title: An Ordinary Life
• Publisher: Harper Collins
• Price: INR 499

"Through a series of incidents, he explores the virtues of honest living and illustrates that it is possible to prosper in a world of rising aspirations and cut-throat competition while preserving one’s ideals"

Why it deserves your time

Reflective and philosophical, ‘An Ordinary Life’ is redolent of the essence and wisdom of an earlier Indian generation and its way of life, which is both ordinary and extraordinary, unique and universal at the same time. As the author writes in the preface: “Like bauji, we all have stories; not all of them are told in public. They are preserved in households and narrated in families and mohallas as tales of inspiration. These stories are relevant. Their relevance keeps growing as the stories spread and lead to more conversations between parents and children. These conversations are important for individual relationships, for families, for societies and for systems in order to maintain their social contract.”

Each chapter contains a life learning that is brought home through the ups and downs of Udai Singh’s life-in the helplessness of his situation as he hands over his 9-year-old son (the author) to a rank stranger on a train to escort to his boarding school because of a daughter in a hospital, possibly on her deathbed. In his strength and credulity in believing that this strange benefactor will not harm his son-something modern-day parents may find hard to emulate-Udai Singh is inspirational and intriguing by turn. Importantly, he reminds us of an India that is fast-disappearing-in his refusal to let an errant worker sleep on the job or unduly entertain an inspector comes to check up on his workshop-and quiet acceptance of being punished for his principles-by losing his job and being forced to down shutters on his workshop-he is as exasperating as he is admirable. You feel for this proud but good man when he suffers for refusing to compromise on his principles. What makes it more than just his story is that the background is all about a system that is changing and evolving despite its shortcomings. All through the reading, one realises how much politics impact day to day living-even as the work quietly exhorts the reader to take an interest in what is happening around them and why-even if it is something as trifling as the rise and fall of onion prices or the songs played on TV.

The education system-of which the author and his well-qualified siblings are prime beneficiaries-undergoes a sea-change and with it, so do their options. Growing up in times when elders’ word was the law and tradition held sway, it is all the more laudable when the author successfully argues his case to switching over to the humanities-on the backdrop of the reality that humanities were seen as an option only meant for duffers. But Ashok Lavasa wanted a career in the humanities-for which, he would need an understanding of social constructs, politics, art and philosophy.

To his credit, the traditional and old-fashioned bauji nevertheless saw his son’s point and supported his case in the face of overall disapproval. Considering Lavasa’s distinguished career record in public service in the years to come, one is glad he won that round.

The narration is lucid and engaging, simple yet meaningful. It is the lack of drama and the matter-of-fact that the tone employed throughout connects so well with the readers.

Other recurring themes in the book are unemployment and corruption, the misuse of power and the helplessness of the common man-no minor problems in a developing country like India. And yet through it all, Udai Singh remains unfazed and unchanged with his stoicism and child-like faith in the innate justice of the Universe and the essential goodness in the hearts of fellow beings.

In short, he is the change he wishes to be. In these jaded times, how desperately we need this extraordinary story of ‘An Ordinary Life’.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

An IAS officer of the 1980 batch, Ashok Lavasa served in various capacities in his cadre state Haryana and the Government of India. He was the Secretary in the ministries of Civil Aviaion, Environment, Forest and Finance. Post this, he served as one of the three Election Commissioners of India overseeing the 2019 general elections. He is currently the Vice President of the Asian Development Bank in Manila, the Philippines.