YOUR FIGHT WILL GO ON Vivek Law

"There are some people who touch our lives for that very brief moment. And leave behind a lesson we tend to carry with us forever. Eleven years ago, HD Shourie, the doyen of the Indian consumer rights movement who passed away yesterday, ushered me into his room, and left me with a lesson that I will carry with me forever.

I was an intern at The Statesman, in the process of completing my graduation in journalism. The deal was clear: write good stories and we may just give you the job. Time: One month.

Purely by luck, one day I came across an ad in the newspaper for a seminar that was to be held on March 15, the World Consumer Rights Day. I limped across to my chief reporter and asked him if I could do something related to this. "Do you know who HD Shourie is?" he shot back. "No sir." He gave me a stare, and then ordered me to go and meet him.

By now I realised he must be a big name (unfortunately those days there was no Google to do a quick search). I called him, and even as he could finish saying "hello", I jumped in to tell him how I was a rookie and if he could please spare some time for me. He asked me to come in two hours.

Once there, he ushered me to the dining room. The frail man (he was 82 then) went and got a clutch of fat legal books and placed them on the table. Then he dug out a small booklet he had written outlining some cases Indian consumers had won against companies. The soft spoken man then lightly held my hand and asked me to shoot my questions. I somehow managed through the interview by asking some of the most basic questions a person could ever have asked. Sample: "Why are consumers in this country taken for a ride?". He answered all my questions. The meeting lasted an hour.

At the end of it, he walked to the door to see me off. He then placed his hand on my head and said: "Son, if you believe what I said today, then keep the fight on. Even one person can make a lot of difference."

My story appeared. I also subsequently got the job. A month later, I attended a seminar (and continued to attend all seminars he addressed) and walked up to him and asked him if he remembered me. "Of course, Mr Law, I read your story extolling consumers to fight back," he smiled. And as I wiped-off a tear yesterday when I heard of his demise, I sent out a silent prayer: Mr Shourie your fight will go on." 

January-March 2006