Sometime back, I had written about Rakesh Mittal IAS, a very pious charismatic officer of Uttar Pradesh State cadre. He passed away in 2018. 1n 1990 he had established ‘Kabir Peace Mission’ intended to promote positive thinking in the community. Whatever be the situation, his focus was always been on chances to learn and grow. Once, he shared an incident which happened while he was in Roorkee IIT. On a Sunday when a few hostelites, including Mittal, were playing cards for stakes, the Dean appeared there from nowhere. It was clear that he understood that it was gambling.
It was a time when discipline itself could claim 100 marks. They could be suspended from both the hostel and the College. But the Dean spoke nothing and slowly left the place. It was a big puzzle for him. He could not at all guess the reason for sparing them from punishment. He asked himself, ‘why didn’t he punish us?’
Thirty more years passed by and Rakesh ji met this Dean at an alumni meet, held in Delhi. Before he got into his car to return, Rakesh rushed to him and introduced himself. Soon he remembered the old incident and asked him, “Why didn’t you punish us that day?” His answer was very short. “Often, forgiveness yields better results.”
