“The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind, but your goodness spreads in all directions.”
Sudha & Anand Burman
24th Jan 2010
22 January 2010
03 January 2010
Message from Mrs Sonia Gandhi
Nov 7th, 2009
Dear Smt Arora
I was saddened to learn of the passing away of your husband.
Shri GK Arora served with great distinction throughout his long and distinguished career in the civil service. In his years of working with my husband, he stood out as an exceptionally dedicated and talented civil servant who played a central role in shaping the new economic, domestic and diplomatic policies and initiatives of that time. He was also a person of extraordinary depth and breadth of intellect. These were qualities that Rajiv ji admired and valued.
At this tinme of grief my thoughts and prayers are with you ande your family. Please accept my sincere condolences.
Yours sincerely
Sonia Gandhi
Dear Smt Arora
I was saddened to learn of the passing away of your husband.
Shri GK Arora served with great distinction throughout his long and distinguished career in the civil service. In his years of working with my husband, he stood out as an exceptionally dedicated and talented civil servant who played a central role in shaping the new economic, domestic and diplomatic policies and initiatives of that time. He was also a person of extraordinary depth and breadth of intellect. These were qualities that Rajiv ji admired and valued.
At this tinme of grief my thoughts and prayers are with you ande your family. Please accept my sincere condolences.
Yours sincerely
Sonia Gandhi
Message from Mr I K Gujral
8 November 2009
Dear Indu Jee
Both of us are sad to learn of Gopi Jee's demise. As you would recall we valued his friendship, particularly his intellect. Please accept our heartfelt condolence. May the Almighty grant peace to the departed soul and courage to you all in the family to bear this irreparable loss!
Joining you in this hour of grief,
Yours sincerely,
I.K. Gujral
Dear Indu Jee
Both of us are sad to learn of Gopi Jee's demise. As you would recall we valued his friendship, particularly his intellect. Please accept our heartfelt condolence. May the Almighty grant peace to the departed soul and courage to you all in the family to bear this irreparable loss!
Joining you in this hour of grief,
Yours sincerely,
I.K. Gujral
Message from Hamid Ansari
November 6, 2009
Dear Mrs Arora
I was distressed to learn about the passing away of Gopi bhai. He was the finest of human beings and a civil servant of great repute and wisdom.
May God give peace to the departed soul and give you the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.
Yours sincerely
M. Hamid Ansari
Vice-President of India
Dear Mrs Arora
I was distressed to learn about the passing away of Gopi bhai. He was the finest of human beings and a civil servant of great repute and wisdom.
May God give peace to the departed soul and give you the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.
Yours sincerely
M. Hamid Ansari
Vice-President of India
05 December 2009
Remembering Gopi (from Nitin Desai)
I first met Gopi when I joined the Planning Commission in 1973. He was at that time D.P. Dhar’s Special Assistant according to the plate on his door. But he was actually much more than that – more a political adviser than just an assistant particularly as the 73-75 period was a difficult one for the government with the oil crisis, the Railway strike, the JP movement, the problems with the food economy, major policy failures like the takeover of the trade in foodgrains and so on. DP Dhar became the lightning rod that attracted much of this criticism within the government because no one dared to criticize Indira Gandhi. Gopi articulated a response that met the criticism headlong and even tried to spell out a left agenda for the beleaguered government.
Gopi built a network of young professionals working in different parts of the Planning Commission as a sort of ginger group to orient the work on the ambitious Fifth Plan and to support D.P.Dhar with drafts of speeches and policy briefs for discussions with government colleagues. I became a part of this group and that was the beginning of a much valued friendship. Gopi gave me an opportunity to work on matters of high policy that otherwise would have never come my way. More than that he helped me to work out how a left agenda could be tailored to fit with India’s complex politics.
It is true that this left experiment of the early seventies failed and was abandoned by its principal patrons. Gopi too moved away from this and I think his stint in Moscow was partly responsible for the change as he saw there the weaknesses of a Statist socialism. When he came back and worked in Rajiv Gandhi’s office the shift in views was clear. We worked together briefly in the Finance Ministry towards the end of Rajiv Gandhi’s Prime Ministership and stayed in touch through our divergent career paths thereafter. We all changed with the times (only obstinate fools don’t!). But one dimension of Gopi’s thinking remained constant – the belief that economic policies that try and cut loose from internal or external political realities will sooner or later fail.
Gopi’s intellect, his sterling honesty and integrity and his dedication to public service are of course what many will always remember. But those of us who got to know him and Kakki as friends also remember their hospitality, particularly when we visited Moscow. Gopi was the most informal diplomat I ever met – I remember walking into his Moscow flat with the chief guest, Prof. Bachurin, who was the Deputy Chairman of Gosplan, with both of us carrying bags of raw vegetables from India.
Rest in peace Gopi. You touched many lives and will be remembered fondly by a legion of friends.
Gopi built a network of young professionals working in different parts of the Planning Commission as a sort of ginger group to orient the work on the ambitious Fifth Plan and to support D.P.Dhar with drafts of speeches and policy briefs for discussions with government colleagues. I became a part of this group and that was the beginning of a much valued friendship. Gopi gave me an opportunity to work on matters of high policy that otherwise would have never come my way. More than that he helped me to work out how a left agenda could be tailored to fit with India’s complex politics.
It is true that this left experiment of the early seventies failed and was abandoned by its principal patrons. Gopi too moved away from this and I think his stint in Moscow was partly responsible for the change as he saw there the weaknesses of a Statist socialism. When he came back and worked in Rajiv Gandhi’s office the shift in views was clear. We worked together briefly in the Finance Ministry towards the end of Rajiv Gandhi’s Prime Ministership and stayed in touch through our divergent career paths thereafter. We all changed with the times (only obstinate fools don’t!). But one dimension of Gopi’s thinking remained constant – the belief that economic policies that try and cut loose from internal or external political realities will sooner or later fail.
Gopi’s intellect, his sterling honesty and integrity and his dedication to public service are of course what many will always remember. But those of us who got to know him and Kakki as friends also remember their hospitality, particularly when we visited Moscow. Gopi was the most informal diplomat I ever met – I remember walking into his Moscow flat with the chief guest, Prof. Bachurin, who was the Deputy Chairman of Gosplan, with both of us carrying bags of raw vegetables from India.
Rest in peace Gopi. You touched many lives and will be remembered fondly by a legion of friends.
A Wonderful Boss
It was a joy to work for Mr. Arora when he was Executive Director at the IMF.
Some of my memories:
When I first started working for him, I had a hard time with the cigarette smoke. So after about a month, I asked him if he would mind if I brought in an air purifier because the smoke was affecting me. Without any hesitation he said that he would not smoke in the office. Soon after, the Alternate ED came back from the Board meeting one day and remarked that the Boss was walking the corridors because he did not want to smoke in the office!
He asked me once to draft replies to letters he received of a general nature because of the volume of mail and his busy schedule. After drafting the letters, I put them up to him for his approval with a note saying, “Your style and language are inimitable. Please feel free to make changes.” In his characteristically generous way, he approved them all saying that they were fine.
When he wanted to make an intervention in the Board on a particular topic, we would borrow from the library all the journals and books on that country that were issued for the previous 3-5 years. He would thoroughly research the matter before writing out his intervention which was usually quite brief. But when he delivered it, I understand, people listened.
Whatever he wrote, whether it was a Board intervention, a personal letter, or a performance evaluation for his staff, it was a piece of literature. He was a wordsmith and had just the right word to give something the right meaning and color. It was a joy to take dictation from him.
Mr. Arora was kind, gentle, soft-spoken, intelligent, and generous. But the characteristic that I admired most was his humility. He exemplified that a person who was highly intelligent and influential could also be humble.
Hepzhi Ohal
Some of my memories:
When I first started working for him, I had a hard time with the cigarette smoke. So after about a month, I asked him if he would mind if I brought in an air purifier because the smoke was affecting me. Without any hesitation he said that he would not smoke in the office. Soon after, the Alternate ED came back from the Board meeting one day and remarked that the Boss was walking the corridors because he did not want to smoke in the office!
He asked me once to draft replies to letters he received of a general nature because of the volume of mail and his busy schedule. After drafting the letters, I put them up to him for his approval with a note saying, “Your style and language are inimitable. Please feel free to make changes.” In his characteristically generous way, he approved them all saying that they were fine.
When he wanted to make an intervention in the Board on a particular topic, we would borrow from the library all the journals and books on that country that were issued for the previous 3-5 years. He would thoroughly research the matter before writing out his intervention which was usually quite brief. But when he delivered it, I understand, people listened.
Whatever he wrote, whether it was a Board intervention, a personal letter, or a performance evaluation for his staff, it was a piece of literature. He was a wordsmith and had just the right word to give something the right meaning and color. It was a joy to take dictation from him.
Mr. Arora was kind, gentle, soft-spoken, intelligent, and generous. But the characteristic that I admired most was his humility. He exemplified that a person who was highly intelligent and influential could also be humble.
Hepzhi Ohal
Obituary of a Romantic
This, a broken column, is written in the shadow of death. Originally designed to honour Faiz Ahmad “Faiz” on the 25th anniversary of his death on 20 November 2009, the column has become an obituary to record the passing of a wonderful friend, a legend of our times — Gopi Arora, a formidable intellectual and creative bureaucrat who remained undiminished by objective reality including a lifetime in the Indian Administrative Service.
The verse quoted is from the Sabaq-i-hindee [Indian school] of mellifluous Persian.
Haiyf dur chashm zudun sohabatey yaar aakhir shud
Saiyreiy gul khoob neh deedeiym bahaar aakhir shud
[Shock, sorrow and surprise — in the blinking of an eye the wonderful company of the beloved friend has ended, I had not enjoyed my fill of Spring when it suddenly ceased to be.]
Read on Akhilesh Mithal's piece in Covert magazine
The verse quoted is from the Sabaq-i-hindee [Indian school] of mellifluous Persian.
Haiyf dur chashm zudun sohabatey yaar aakhir shud
Saiyreiy gul khoob neh deedeiym bahaar aakhir shud
[Shock, sorrow and surprise — in the blinking of an eye the wonderful company of the beloved friend has ended, I had not enjoyed my fill of Spring when it suddenly ceased to be.]
Read on Akhilesh Mithal's piece in Covert magazine
Of head and heart
By the time this article appears, Gopi Arora would have been cremated, mourned and grieved by thousands of admirers and friends. As a close friend, and one with whom I had the good fortune of sharing a worldview, I feel it important to share with readers a deeper view of a bureaucrat who adorned the service with his unparalleled qualities of head and heart.
Gopi joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1957, with a single-minded purpose: to serve the country. He grew in the ‘idealistic’ Nehru years and came to be known later as the most powerful bureaucrat in the corridors of power. It was a different kind of ‘power’ — one which was used to help the right people, to take correct decisions in the interest of the country and to never get politically influenced.
Gopi’s beginnings were humble and his family espoused simple living and high thinking. At a very early age, he assimilated these principles which he manifested in his educational career. After he finished his academic education in Allahabad University he became a professor of history. It is said that his students were taught not only history but also literature because of the way he communicated thoughts and historical events.
Gopi had the great advantage of being taught as an undergraduate by two celebrated poets: Harivansh Rai Bachchan and the great Urdu lyricist, Raghupati Sahai ‘Firaq’. This helped him to nurture his love for verse. His conversation was always peppered with shayaris. The tiniest gesture from a person could prompt him to write beautiful notes. His choice of words, command of language could be seen even in the smallest of his scribblings I was often privy to.
I happened to meet P. Chidambaram some years ago and I casually asked him how his team in the Finance Ministry was. His one line reply was “They are good, but we no longer have officers like Gopi Arora.” It is a testimony to Gopi’s calibre as an officer even 15 years after he retired.
Another bureaucrat friend of mine, R.C. Sinha, who served in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting when Gopi was Secretary would tell me about Gopi’s notations that weren’t merely orders but visionary statements. After his IAS career, he joined the International Monetary Fund for three years. Officials there discovered the mettle of Gopi, occasionally calling him ‘Dr Gopi Arora’. On any complicated issue he would write out a long note that his colleagues defined as the ‘Arora formula’.
Gopi’s passing away is not only a loss to his friends and admirers, but it’s also a loss for the country. His grasp of economics was such that practising economists were wary of contradicting Gopi’s opinions. He was possibly one of the most respected economists of his time without having had any formal education in the subject.
When he witnessed some thing wrong being pursued, he would just smile and mutter why ‘simple things’ are not understood. He was often proved to be right, but sometimes the ‘damage’ had already been done.
The words of Shakespeare come to mind while remembering Gopi: “How long a time lies in one little world!/Four lagging winters and four wanton springs/ End in a word; such is the breath of kings.”
Suresh Neotia
Gopi joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1957, with a single-minded purpose: to serve the country. He grew in the ‘idealistic’ Nehru years and came to be known later as the most powerful bureaucrat in the corridors of power. It was a different kind of ‘power’ — one which was used to help the right people, to take correct decisions in the interest of the country and to never get politically influenced.
Gopi’s beginnings were humble and his family espoused simple living and high thinking. At a very early age, he assimilated these principles which he manifested in his educational career. After he finished his academic education in Allahabad University he became a professor of history. It is said that his students were taught not only history but also literature because of the way he communicated thoughts and historical events.
Gopi had the great advantage of being taught as an undergraduate by two celebrated poets: Harivansh Rai Bachchan and the great Urdu lyricist, Raghupati Sahai ‘Firaq’. This helped him to nurture his love for verse. His conversation was always peppered with shayaris. The tiniest gesture from a person could prompt him to write beautiful notes. His choice of words, command of language could be seen even in the smallest of his scribblings I was often privy to.
I happened to meet P. Chidambaram some years ago and I casually asked him how his team in the Finance Ministry was. His one line reply was “They are good, but we no longer have officers like Gopi Arora.” It is a testimony to Gopi’s calibre as an officer even 15 years after he retired.
Another bureaucrat friend of mine, R.C. Sinha, who served in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting when Gopi was Secretary would tell me about Gopi’s notations that weren’t merely orders but visionary statements. After his IAS career, he joined the International Monetary Fund for three years. Officials there discovered the mettle of Gopi, occasionally calling him ‘Dr Gopi Arora’. On any complicated issue he would write out a long note that his colleagues defined as the ‘Arora formula’.
Gopi’s passing away is not only a loss to his friends and admirers, but it’s also a loss for the country. His grasp of economics was such that practising economists were wary of contradicting Gopi’s opinions. He was possibly one of the most respected economists of his time without having had any formal education in the subject.
When he witnessed some thing wrong being pursued, he would just smile and mutter why ‘simple things’ are not understood. He was often proved to be right, but sometimes the ‘damage’ had already been done.
The words of Shakespeare come to mind while remembering Gopi: “How long a time lies in one little world!/Four lagging winters and four wanton springs/ End in a word; such is the breath of kings.”
Suresh Neotia
23 November 2009
Gopi Sab: A Tribute from Venu
A month ago (October 2009), I met Gopi Sab at a dinner given for a very small group in Delhi. As Gopi Sab entered, I touched his feet and the host Mr. Suresh Neotia seemed surprised. For me, Gopi Sab is a great Guru. Uncharacteristically I touch his feet – out of regard, respect, admiration, love and affection. At dinner, he displayed his usual knowledge, scholarship and his wisdom, while discussing a book authored by me recently. Despite his failing health he read it and, had written to me about it. He was a constant source of inspiration and occasionally a philosopher and guide to me in discharge of my duties, especially as Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
I first met him about thirty years ago, when he was Joint Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs and I was in World Bank in Washington. Thanks to Jagannathan Murali and Hem we met at my home, and for me it was simply a case of love at first sight. From Gopi Sab the same affection and the same commitment to high human values continued all these years: official positions, personal issues and changing world or India environment did not dent them. His conversations, his letters have always been a delight; they are elegant and eloquent in style and substance. We, all of our family, enjoyed their hospitality many times at their home, be it New Delhi or Washington D.C, or Noida.
His departure leaves a great void in my life; but memories, so many of them, remain to inspire and humble me.
Dr. Y Venugopal Reddy
I first met him about thirty years ago, when he was Joint Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs and I was in World Bank in Washington. Thanks to Jagannathan Murali and Hem we met at my home, and for me it was simply a case of love at first sight. From Gopi Sab the same affection and the same commitment to high human values continued all these years: official positions, personal issues and changing world or India environment did not dent them. His conversations, his letters have always been a delight; they are elegant and eloquent in style and substance. We, all of our family, enjoyed their hospitality many times at their home, be it New Delhi or Washington D.C, or Noida.
His departure leaves a great void in my life; but memories, so many of them, remain to inspire and humble me.
Dr. Y Venugopal Reddy
18 November 2009
From Dilip Cherian
There are few people you totally are awed by, specially if you are a mid – career editor. Gopi was one of those rare babus. You were awed by the minutest nugget he bestowed. And he was generous with them, to those he trusted. Between dollops of rice, yellow dal and mutton curry he would indicate the broad sweep of history contained in an off – the – cuff remark.
Ask Gopi a random question on fertilizer subsidies and his answer would trigger references to ‘kulaks’ to the Meiji restoration and yet encompass Naxals. His towering mind was capable of instant tour – de – forces that boggled those with lesser knowledge – inevitably that meant, most of those he encountered. And yet all of it was lightly tossed. Almost playfully. So you never ever felt lost or even small. That was the Gopi. I revered. And the Gopi I will always miss.
Such mental titans, sometimes come in petite physical packages – but they probably come that way, so that they are forever tucked into our hearts. That’s how it will be, with Gopi.
Dilip Cherian
Ask Gopi a random question on fertilizer subsidies and his answer would trigger references to ‘kulaks’ to the Meiji restoration and yet encompass Naxals. His towering mind was capable of instant tour – de – forces that boggled those with lesser knowledge – inevitably that meant, most of those he encountered. And yet all of it was lightly tossed. Almost playfully. So you never ever felt lost or even small. That was the Gopi. I revered. And the Gopi I will always miss.
Such mental titans, sometimes come in petite physical packages – but they probably come that way, so that they are forever tucked into our hearts. That’s how it will be, with Gopi.
Dilip Cherian
17 November 2009
'a solid commentator'
I wrote a piece in FE on a roadmap for India. I thought it was good. But it was not as solid as Gopi's comments. You all can realize why he was my inspiration from his comments below: He wrote:
"Hi Jayanto,
Thanks for the article. Your optimism is worthy of a seasoned warrior. Your roadmap coincided with a bits and pieces trade policy with photographs of three ministers beaming at no one in particular. Like the bourbons they they never learn from history. Not to be outdone, Arjun Singh produced his panacea for equity - more reservations! Surely Planning Commission could not be left behind in the race for the 8% trophy. The PM wants it to look at the roadmap for reduction of subsidies. Optimism of a non-existent will.
It was this context of the summer of our discontent that held me back. Not because of individual actions that make no sense when put together in the larger scheme of things. Before these brave new world announcements there was that will o' the wisp of capital convertibility emanating from on high. One could barely suppress a tired yawn.
Clearly rhetoric has stepped on to the centrestage, replacing the unity of thought and action, or even the more modest, but not on that account of low priority, trial and error. The basics, to which you refer somewhat poignantly - infrastructure, transaction costs, commodity production in primary sector, use of known technology (refrigeration) to add value and increase incomes for low income producers -- well, these basics wander around like waifs in a cold, inhospitable world, spurned and discarded by the glitzy whiz kids of the retail revolution who are sending the stock market into uncharted territories to the huge delight of casino players.
My overwhelming emotion was one of indescribable sadness. Perhaps Tipu Sultan must have felt the same way when confronting the British. If the Indian rulers of the time had the wisdom, the foresight and the resolution to come together they would have been able to keep India safe for an independent trajectory of development. Is the same fate about to befall us. You hear the bell tolling in the spreading anarchy in the belt stretching across from Nepal along the coastal belt of India to the Deccan plateau. But it is business as usual.
Nevertheless it is a good idea to keep reminding the vision makers that it needs more than stirring phrases to put life into the empty phrases. You need building blocks, solid, humble, workmanlike, durable, heat and cold resistant building blocks. They can only be provided by skilled craftsmen like Jayanto who are at the same time filled with a burning passion for a different and more decent society. Not a society of financial bimbos, but a society where people care for each other and for nature. Your roadmap belongs to that genre, full of sadness but also full of longing for a better world.
love
gopi"
I will really miss him. What a loss for India. Even greater loss for me.
Jayanta Roy
"Hi Jayanto,
Thanks for the article. Your optimism is worthy of a seasoned warrior. Your roadmap coincided with a bits and pieces trade policy with photographs of three ministers beaming at no one in particular. Like the bourbons they they never learn from history. Not to be outdone, Arjun Singh produced his panacea for equity - more reservations! Surely Planning Commission could not be left behind in the race for the 8% trophy. The PM wants it to look at the roadmap for reduction of subsidies. Optimism of a non-existent will.
It was this context of the summer of our discontent that held me back. Not because of individual actions that make no sense when put together in the larger scheme of things. Before these brave new world announcements there was that will o' the wisp of capital convertibility emanating from on high. One could barely suppress a tired yawn.
Clearly rhetoric has stepped on to the centrestage, replacing the unity of thought and action, or even the more modest, but not on that account of low priority, trial and error. The basics, to which you refer somewhat poignantly - infrastructure, transaction costs, commodity production in primary sector, use of known technology (refrigeration) to add value and increase incomes for low income producers -- well, these basics wander around like waifs in a cold, inhospitable world, spurned and discarded by the glitzy whiz kids of the retail revolution who are sending the stock market into uncharted territories to the huge delight of casino players.
My overwhelming emotion was one of indescribable sadness. Perhaps Tipu Sultan must have felt the same way when confronting the British. If the Indian rulers of the time had the wisdom, the foresight and the resolution to come together they would have been able to keep India safe for an independent trajectory of development. Is the same fate about to befall us. You hear the bell tolling in the spreading anarchy in the belt stretching across from Nepal along the coastal belt of India to the Deccan plateau. But it is business as usual.
Nevertheless it is a good idea to keep reminding the vision makers that it needs more than stirring phrases to put life into the empty phrases. You need building blocks, solid, humble, workmanlike, durable, heat and cold resistant building blocks. They can only be provided by skilled craftsmen like Jayanto who are at the same time filled with a burning passion for a different and more decent society. Not a society of financial bimbos, but a society where people care for each other and for nature. Your roadmap belongs to that genre, full of sadness but also full of longing for a better world.
love
gopi"
I will really miss him. What a loss for India. Even greater loss for me.
Jayanta Roy
16 November 2009
'highly respected on the IMF Board'
He was very knowledgeable -- very friendly and very soft spoken -- we had to very often open the dictionary to find the word and spelling of the specific word dear Gopi ji used during his dictation. He always wanted to find the correct and true information before he spoke in the [IMF] Board -- he would often ask his Technical assistant to search a specific quote or reference from a specific chair so that he could bring the past fact to light.
Especially whenever there was interruption in the dictation--he would start exactly from where he left the dictation. His dictation was so clear and concise that when we transcribed the same--he would just sign the letter.
I am told whenever dear Gopi ji spoke in the Board -- all listened to him very intently. He was highly respected by his colleagues in the IMF Board.
He was a thorough gentleman--we all loved him a lot and will miss him.
Ashwani Sharma
Especially whenever there was interruption in the dictation--he would start exactly from where he left the dictation. His dictation was so clear and concise that when we transcribed the same--he would just sign the letter.
I am told whenever dear Gopi ji spoke in the Board -- all listened to him very intently. He was highly respected by his colleagues in the IMF Board.
He was a thorough gentleman--we all loved him a lot and will miss him.
Ashwani Sharma
'an accidental career'
Here is another episode in Gopi's life as narrated to me by Mr. Vinod Dubey, Gopi's contemporary and friend in the Allahabad University, and a former director in the World Bank. Gopi had a passion for scholarly pursuits and his choice for a civil service career was accidental. This was brought out in sharp relief when he reluctantly decided to appear for the Administrative Service examination because his rightful claim for the lecturer's post in the history department for which he was recommended by the faculty members on the basis of his stellar performance in the examination was turned down by the professor of the history department. The reason was simple: the professor wanted to have a dynastic rule with his nincompoop son to occupy the post.In those days when good jobs were few and far between, Gopi's willingness to forsake the lucrative and power-laden civil service was indeed remarkable.
D Khatkhate
D Khatkhate
'a fine human being'
I just heard that Mr. Arora passed away a few days ago. We just cannot believe it. Mr. Arora was like a father to us. When we were in Washington when Susmita was posted there and I was working for him in the IMF we got to know him much better.
He was such a fine human being always willing to help and guide. I know of many situations when he went out of his way to assist people. He was terrific human being whose loss can never be replaced. Please do accept Susmita and my sincere heartfelt condolence.
Ravi and Susmita Thomas
He was such a fine human being always willing to help and guide. I know of many situations when he went out of his way to assist people. He was terrific human being whose loss can never be replaced. Please do accept Susmita and my sincere heartfelt condolence.
Ravi and Susmita Thomas
"Gopi was a warm-hearted individual'
I was indeed a very close friend of Gopi. I knew him from 1989 when I joined the GOI as Economic Adviser, Commerce. We always kept in touch since then. He invited me for dinner on September 12, 2009. We spent 2 1/2 hours talking about global and Indian economic issues.
Gopi inspired me to work in India. He read everything I wrote, and provided detailed insightful comments. He had an excellent command over the English language.
Gopi and I spent hours discussing India's economic policy and what are its shortcomings. Governance, lack of transparency, massive transaction costs were the things that worried most.
We both were thrilled when UPA won this time with a massive public support. I indicated to him that UPA would surely now address these issues since they have the total support of the voters. He was not as optimistic. He said
"Indeed, it was a very very big surprise. I had speculated that the UPA will be the largest pre-poll aliance but this is a landmark election result. I don't know whether the Congress will have the gumption to do what needs to be done to fix the economy in the short- run and to lay the foundations for a strong medium-term growth and to restore some degree of transparency in economic decision making. they have the opportunity and the mandate. We shall know in the next few months. The temptation to relapse into the business-as-usual will be very very strong."
That was Gopi. He knew that Indian Governments are basically risk averse.
I learnt from my IAS friends and relatives that Gopi was a model IAS officer. A Defence Ministry Joint Secretary told me that Shri Pronab Mukherjee (he was the Raksha Mantri then) told them that when he was the Finance Minister, he had a Joint Secretary named Gopi Arora who was so brilliant that the Minister could blindly sign on the notings put up by him. He could rarely add a word. It was so perfect. Gopi could put this thoughts so beautically in the best prose. Some people, including my wife, felt that he was a great loss to English literature.
With all this brilliance Gopi was a warm hearted individual. He listened to my problems, and always offered the best guidance. He could feel what was bothering me.
With his untimely departure, I lost one of my real few friends. I wanted to spend many more evenings with him, drinking single malt, albeit in moderation, and discussing how India could attain its top spot in the global economy.
Jayanta Roy
Gopi inspired me to work in India. He read everything I wrote, and provided detailed insightful comments. He had an excellent command over the English language.
Gopi and I spent hours discussing India's economic policy and what are its shortcomings. Governance, lack of transparency, massive transaction costs were the things that worried most.
We both were thrilled when UPA won this time with a massive public support. I indicated to him that UPA would surely now address these issues since they have the total support of the voters. He was not as optimistic. He said
"Indeed, it was a very very big surprise. I had speculated that the UPA will be the largest pre-poll aliance but this is a landmark election result. I don't know whether the Congress will have the gumption to do what needs to be done to fix the economy in the short- run and to lay the foundations for a strong medium-term growth and to restore some degree of transparency in economic decision making. they have the opportunity and the mandate. We shall know in the next few months. The temptation to relapse into the business-as-usual will be very very strong."
That was Gopi. He knew that Indian Governments are basically risk averse.
I learnt from my IAS friends and relatives that Gopi was a model IAS officer. A Defence Ministry Joint Secretary told me that Shri Pronab Mukherjee (he was the Raksha Mantri then) told them that when he was the Finance Minister, he had a Joint Secretary named Gopi Arora who was so brilliant that the Minister could blindly sign on the notings put up by him. He could rarely add a word. It was so perfect. Gopi could put this thoughts so beautically in the best prose. Some people, including my wife, felt that he was a great loss to English literature.
With all this brilliance Gopi was a warm hearted individual. He listened to my problems, and always offered the best guidance. He could feel what was bothering me.
With his untimely departure, I lost one of my real few friends. I wanted to spend many more evenings with him, drinking single malt, albeit in moderation, and discussing how India could attain its top spot in the global economy.
Jayanta Roy
'A nonpareil scholar'
Gopi was someone special to me. He was much more than a civil servant though very illustrious.He was a non-pareil scholar with a rare gift of carrying his profound knowledge lightly. His command over English language was unparalled,interspersed with imaginative use of words with a philosophical sweep. His vast reading and uncanny insights into human nature would have made him a foremost literary personage,if only he had earmarked his career that way. I give below one small speciman which will bear out what I mentioned above. This is taken from his mesmerizing farewell address he gave on the eve of his relinguishing office as the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. It was a memorable speech,unique one which, according to the cognoscente, no one in the history of the IMF ever matched.
Here it is:
"Mr. Chaiman, Dostoyevski has written somewhere that God has a special soft corner for sinners who repent.It is difficult to judge the empirical validity of this observation for God`s actions with respect to former sinners have not been scientifically catalogued and analyzed.However, in the Fund there is living proof that there is a welcome with open arms for those who see the truth after a long and dark night of travail. There is some delicious irony here because at a time when so many who trusted the doctrine of perfectibility of man under Plato's guardians seek enlightenment in the anonymity of markets, those who considered it to be their sacred duty to spread the gospel begin to doubt whether it is such a good thing after all to actually practice what the gospel says. Uruguay Round is a case in point"
[Exracted from Gopi`s Farewell Speech to the Executive Board of the IMF,March 12,1993.
I can do no more than to memorialize the immemorial!
Deena Khatkhate
Here it is:
"Mr. Chaiman, Dostoyevski has written somewhere that God has a special soft corner for sinners who repent.It is difficult to judge the empirical validity of this observation for God`s actions with respect to former sinners have not been scientifically catalogued and analyzed.However, in the Fund there is living proof that there is a welcome with open arms for those who see the truth after a long and dark night of travail. There is some delicious irony here because at a time when so many who trusted the doctrine of perfectibility of man under Plato's guardians seek enlightenment in the anonymity of markets, those who considered it to be their sacred duty to spread the gospel begin to doubt whether it is such a good thing after all to actually practice what the gospel says. Uruguay Round is a case in point"
[Exracted from Gopi`s Farewell Speech to the Executive Board of the IMF,March 12,1993.
I can do no more than to memorialize the immemorial!
Deena Khatkhate
15 November 2009
'A great shock'
The news of Gopi's demise came as great shock. We like to convey our heartfelt condolences.
We were very fond of Gopi. This was mutual. Professor Bipin Chandra asked him to release my book on "Indian Agriculture Since Independence" published by the NBT. The book was released at the IIC annexe in October 2006. Gopi had carefully read the book and made some commendable comments in his inimitable style.
Sheila and G.S. Bhalla
We were very fond of Gopi. This was mutual. Professor Bipin Chandra asked him to release my book on "Indian Agriculture Since Independence" published by the NBT. The book was released at the IIC annexe in October 2006. Gopi had carefully read the book and made some commendable comments in his inimitable style.
Sheila and G.S. Bhalla
08 November 2009
'Gopi was a wonderful colleague'
'Gopi was a wonderful colleague. I have known him for so long, first when I was posted as special assistant in Moscow and then as foreign policy advisor in the PMO. He had a profound influence on policy matters and his role was invaluable,' Ronen Sen, India's former ambassador to the US who worked in the Gandhi PMO, told IANS.
'What is important to know is that his (Arora's) job did not define him. But he defined the role.'
Read the full report
'What is important to know is that his (Arora's) job did not define him. But he defined the role.'
Read the full report
07 November 2009
The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has condoled the passing away of former civil servant, Sh. Gopi Arora.
The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has condoled the passing away of former civil servant, Sh. Gopi Arora. In a condolence message to his wife, Dr Singh said:
“It is with great sadness and a sense of personal loss that I learnt of the passing away of your husband Shri Gopi Arora.
Gopi was an exceptionally brilliant civil servant who served the country with great distinction. In his long and distinguished public career, he held many important positions and excelled in each one of them. Gopi’s powerful intellect was matched in equal measure by kindness and generosity of spirit. Ever helpful, he will be remembered with deep affection and respect by all those whose lives he touched. His career will continue to inspire public servants in the time to come.
“It is with great sadness and a sense of personal loss that I learnt of the passing away of your husband Shri Gopi Arora.
Gopi was an exceptionally brilliant civil servant who served the country with great distinction. In his long and distinguished public career, he held many important positions and excelled in each one of them. Gopi’s powerful intellect was matched in equal measure by kindness and generosity of spirit. Ever helpful, he will be remembered with deep affection and respect by all those whose lives he touched. His career will continue to inspire public servants in the time to come.
Obituaries
The obituary from Sindh Today
New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) Gopi Arora, a close aide of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who wielded enormous power and authority in the 1980s, died Thursday. He was 76.
Arora joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1957. He was special secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) before becoming secretary in the information and broadcasting ministry. Arora was also finance secretary in 1989-90, serving the government for over 35 years in several prestigious positions.
Read more
http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/68546.htm
New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) Gopi Arora, a close aide of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who wielded enormous power and authority in the 1980s, died Thursday. He was 76.
Arora joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1957. He was special secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) before becoming secretary in the information and broadcasting ministry. Arora was also finance secretary in 1989-90, serving the government for over 35 years in several prestigious positions.
Read more
http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/68546.htm
'He had a vision which few civil servants have’
K. Natwar Singh remembered him thus in the Indian Express today.
He had a vision which few civil servants have’
K Natwar Singh
Only a few months ago Gopi (everyone called him by that endearing verbal shorthand) and I were lunching at the India International Centre. He looked frail, but intellectually he was as sharp as ever. I am deeply distressed at his passing away. Mourning is for his family and closest associates. I prefer remembering him.
He was a remarkable civil servant — endowed with subtlety of intellect and openness of character, an analytical and organised mind. He was a man who measured his words and phrases. He had a vision which few civil servants have. In his younger days he was a Marxist. Later, he became Nehruite — a non-doctrinaire socialist.
We had worked in Rajiv Gandhi’s government. He as a civil servant attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, I as minister of state. He helped me unreservedly in planning Rajiv Gandhi’s China visit in 1988. A strong and influential lobby in government was against the PM’s embarking on his Passage to China.
He was entirely responsible for Rajiv Gandhi sending the late P.N. Haksar on a secret trip to China to have talks with the Chinese prime minister. Haksar on his return told the PM that the Chinese government wished him to pay an official visit to the People’s Republic. Had it not been for Gopi, an entirely unsuitable, light-weight individual would have been sent originally. The visit from Rajiv Gandhi to China that followed was a trail-blazer.
Gopi had a well-defined, rooted point of view on grave matters of politics and diplomacy. He was intellectually far ahead of most of us. He had a sense of humour, but he was never flippant. He had gravitas. He loathed logorrhea, incoherent talkativeness.
One of his endearing traits was that his attire made no concessions to fashion or style. He considered such obsessions trivial — levitas, he used to say.
Let me go back to our lunch. Inevitably we discussed the India-Sri Lanka Agreement signed by Rajiv Gandhi and J.R. Jayewardene, then president of Sri Lanka, on 29 June 1987. Why things went so wrong, and how half-a-dozen agencies were functioning at cross-purposes. Confusion prevailed. Boy scouts had almost taken over our Sri Lanka policy — or lack of it. For their folly Rajiv Gandhi paid with his life.
On our recent relations with the US, we spent much time. Gopi knew Washington well, and was never hostile to Uncle Sam. At the same time we agreed that the UPA government had invested too much in the neo-conservative clique that had surrounded and advised President Bush. A new diplomatic vocabulary had been invented: regime change, benevolent hegemony, democracy promotion, pre-emptive war. What words!
Gopi made a deeply perceptive remark on the disintegration of the USSR. I remember his exact words: “Natwar, an alternative point of view has disappeared. That is very serious matter.” Here you have brevity and wisdom combined.
I have purposely not gone into the details of his service record — brilliant though it was — nor into the various and very senior posts he occupied. Suffice it to say that his career was untarnished. He served his country with ability, competence, dedication, efficiency, prudence and measured judgement. Was he perfect? No. Had he been, he would be of little interest to someone like me.
I shared his weltanschauung and his passion to see India take its rightful place in the community of nations.
I still have a book he lent me years ago: the first volume of Main Currents of Marxism, by the recently-deceased Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowaski. I lent him The Greatest Speeches of All Time. Kolakowaski’s book is a legacy from Gopi which I shall cherish.
The writer is a former foreign minister
Read more
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/he-had-a-vision-which-few-civil-servants-have/538344/
He had a vision which few civil servants have’
K Natwar Singh
Only a few months ago Gopi (everyone called him by that endearing verbal shorthand) and I were lunching at the India International Centre. He looked frail, but intellectually he was as sharp as ever. I am deeply distressed at his passing away. Mourning is for his family and closest associates. I prefer remembering him.
He was a remarkable civil servant — endowed with subtlety of intellect and openness of character, an analytical and organised mind. He was a man who measured his words and phrases. He had a vision which few civil servants have. In his younger days he was a Marxist. Later, he became Nehruite — a non-doctrinaire socialist.
We had worked in Rajiv Gandhi’s government. He as a civil servant attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, I as minister of state. He helped me unreservedly in planning Rajiv Gandhi’s China visit in 1988. A strong and influential lobby in government was against the PM’s embarking on his Passage to China.
He was entirely responsible for Rajiv Gandhi sending the late P.N. Haksar on a secret trip to China to have talks with the Chinese prime minister. Haksar on his return told the PM that the Chinese government wished him to pay an official visit to the People’s Republic. Had it not been for Gopi, an entirely unsuitable, light-weight individual would have been sent originally. The visit from Rajiv Gandhi to China that followed was a trail-blazer.
Gopi had a well-defined, rooted point of view on grave matters of politics and diplomacy. He was intellectually far ahead of most of us. He had a sense of humour, but he was never flippant. He had gravitas. He loathed logorrhea, incoherent talkativeness.
One of his endearing traits was that his attire made no concessions to fashion or style. He considered such obsessions trivial — levitas, he used to say.
Let me go back to our lunch. Inevitably we discussed the India-Sri Lanka Agreement signed by Rajiv Gandhi and J.R. Jayewardene, then president of Sri Lanka, on 29 June 1987. Why things went so wrong, and how half-a-dozen agencies were functioning at cross-purposes. Confusion prevailed. Boy scouts had almost taken over our Sri Lanka policy — or lack of it. For their folly Rajiv Gandhi paid with his life.
On our recent relations with the US, we spent much time. Gopi knew Washington well, and was never hostile to Uncle Sam. At the same time we agreed that the UPA government had invested too much in the neo-conservative clique that had surrounded and advised President Bush. A new diplomatic vocabulary had been invented: regime change, benevolent hegemony, democracy promotion, pre-emptive war. What words!
Gopi made a deeply perceptive remark on the disintegration of the USSR. I remember his exact words: “Natwar, an alternative point of view has disappeared. That is very serious matter.” Here you have brevity and wisdom combined.
I have purposely not gone into the details of his service record — brilliant though it was — nor into the various and very senior posts he occupied. Suffice it to say that his career was untarnished. He served his country with ability, competence, dedication, efficiency, prudence and measured judgement. Was he perfect? No. Had he been, he would be of little interest to someone like me.
I shared his weltanschauung and his passion to see India take its rightful place in the community of nations.
I still have a book he lent me years ago: the first volume of Main Currents of Marxism, by the recently-deceased Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowaski. I lent him The Greatest Speeches of All Time. Kolakowaski’s book is a legacy from Gopi which I shall cherish.
The writer is a former foreign minister
Read more
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/he-had-a-vision-which-few-civil-servants-have/538344/
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