"When I first met Sunita Kejriwal..."

Picture source : Indian Express

I don't remember which day or what date it was. I, along with Ankit Lal (AAP, Social Media Admin) and Suresh Reddy (CEO, Lycos Internet Limited), were at Arvind sir's place to discuss the party's future social media content strategy. By the time we finished, it was already late enough for lunch, so Arvind invited us to the dining table. To be honest, I wasn't really hungry. But a lunch with Arvind? I just had to eat, as slowly as possible.

Now, in a normal "officer's" home, you'll find a helper preparing/serving food. But to my surprise, Sunita ji started serving us food. At first I was a little shaken. An IRS officer, ex-CM's wife, serving food to some volunteer? CMs and their relatives don't serve food to strangers. They make their Babus do it. They make you wait in the line for hours while they finish their chai, although they themselves usually never wait for anyone. They don't even wait for the Red Light. The Red Light waits for them. Their kids score C- and go to a famous foreign university for higher studies. Their toilets cost more than an Aam Aadmi's house. You know what I'm talking about...

But there she was, serving us food. Nonetheless, I blurted 'thanks', smiled, and started eating. The food was al-right. Homely. But suddenly I noticed something funny in one of the bowls. Mushrooms. I'm allergic to mushrooms. Mushrooms love taking me to a date in the ICU. Also, I'm not very fond of how they taste. Luckily, I hadn't eaten the dish yet. Sunita ji noticed I wasn't eating that dish, so she asked me why. "I'm allergic", I blurted again. 

Now a normal person would say something like 'Al-right' or 'Theek hai' or 'Oh' or just say nothing at all and nod. But Sunita ji, surprisingly, said, "Oh sorry, I didn't know beta.".

"Beta"? "I'm sorry"? Really? Why did she have to say sorry? She isn't responsible for my allergy! She didn't have to serve me food in the first place, I didn't deserve it, I am just another Aam Aadmi!

I smiled and blurted something like "It's okay". I was surprised to see how humble the Kejriwals were. This couldn't possibly be true. This has to be a sham, a show! And if this was true, what are such people doing in politics?

That day I realized that Sunita Kejriwal is not just "Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Arvind Kejriwal", but she is "Sunita Kejrwal, ALSO wife of Arvind Kejriwal". I could now see how Arvind has been so strong, so patient, so humble, so courageous. She is truly 'Aam'. As 'Aam' Arvind is, or perhaps even more, and it is partly due to her support that Arvind and his team has been so successful.

When I first met Sunita Kejriwal, I was expecting her to be a cliche "CM's Wife". I was so wrong.

(I still can't believe she called me 'Beta'.)

(Left to Right : Ankit Lal, Me, Arvind Kejriwal, Suresh Reddy)