A symbol of India’s history

Soft. Learned. Transformational. A man of unusual wisdom. Strong leader. Weak leader. Hesitant King. Helpless. Over the last three decades, many nicknames have been used to describe the life and legacy of Manmohan Singh, who died on Thursday evening after a long illness. But the truth is that the mild-mannered economist’s life – both personal and professional – was emblematic of India’s history in all its glorious complexity.

Singh was born to a father who worked as a clerk and a mother who died young. He represented the post-Partition generation who longed to leave behind the tragic communal carnage of post-independence and build a better future for their families. Singh chose education as a means of transportation, worked hard and took the conventional route up the socio-economic ladder. Singh rose through the ranks in academia before entering civil service, serving as deputy head of the Planning Commission and governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The scholar-turned-politician embodied the zeal and impatience of a generation held back by the license-permit raj. When Singh unleashed the potential of the Indian market in one fell swoop in June 1991, he also laid the foundation for the middle class. As the Indian economy entered the fast lane of the global highway and gained momentum, the political risks taken by people like Singh and then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao proved well worth it.

In his two terms as prime minister, Singh accepted the contradiction – he was a technocrat who valued social protection; he gave the green light to both Aadhaar and the world’s largest rural employment program; He was a quiet internationalist who advocated for better relations between India and the US and even staked his government on this stance, but was also conscious of protecting India from the vagaries of the global economy; He championed economic growth and led a boom that created enormous wealth, but was not blind to the one-sidedness of that growth. Here the limitations of Singh’s politics emerged. He outlined the pitfalls of incremental progress and political compromise without structural change. As corruption cases tarnished his government’s reputation and even tarnished his personal appeal, Singh appeared reticent, unable or unwilling to make the drastic changes needed to restore his power to get the government back on track. In his setbacks, Singh stressed that India’s story needs constant attention and innovation lest global vicissitudes and structural deficiencies derail it.

But more than anything, Singh represented the hope inherent in a country that, against all odds, forged a republic, lifted millions of people out of poverty and fed them when no one thought possible, and established a stable democracy that was worthy of its own is tolerant of diverse faiths, creeds and religions. His rise showed that the common man can make a difference through hard work and integrity. He embodied the transformative power of education. He proudly wore the badge of secularism and emphasized his Sikh ancestry to argue that the constitutional promise of equality extended to all communities. And he showed that decency and politeness are not weaknesses, but strengths. That will be the legacy of India’s 14th Prime Minister – a man who tried to give every Indian the chance for a better life, even if he couldn’t always ensure it.