When PM Morarji Desai went to work with three ribs broken after surviving plane crash in Assam

New Delhi: Not many people know much about the life and times of India's first non-Congress prime minister Morarji Desai, the great son of Valsad, Gujarat. His great grandson Madhukeshwar Desai is the son of Jagdeep Desai, whose father was Kanti Desai, son of the former Prime Minister. Madhukeshwar Desai has studied law and is trying to uphold the legacy of his great grandfather. In an article, Madhukeshwar describes how the Prime Minister of India who survived an air crash in Assam in 1978, went about with his normal work, and it was two days later, it was found that he had bad bruises on his chest. Writes Madhukeshwar in the newspaper DNA: "In 1978, his aircraft crashed in the forests of Assam. The pilots died on the spot, my grandfather Kantibhai's leg was hanging by a few ligaments. After being rescued, he addressed the nation, attended parliament, and continued his work. "A week later, my grandmother Padmaben saw that the left side of his chest was black and blue; his pen had pressed against his chest and cracked three ribs during the crash. He had told no one. He was 82 and still continued his work, unfazed.""For Desai, democracy and freedom of the people were paramount. During Emergency, he was kept under house arrest. Then Indira Gandhi sent an emissary with an offer to set all political prisoners free as long as they adhered to everything she had to say. He sent the follower back with the message, “Keep your offers. I will outlive you anyway.” Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, and Morarji Desai died at the ripe old age of 99 on April 10, 1995. Madhukeshwar writes: " It was believed that once Desai had made up his mind, it was impossible to change it. But Shanti Bhushan, the law minister in his cabinet and a well-known senior advocate at the Supreme Court, told me something different: “When a cabinet minister had a view which differed from Morarjibhai's, he didn't impose his views and dismiss it. If logic and reasoning was shown, then he would go with the opinion of the minister and not his own.” The great grandson writes: "A stubborn man with a cruel face, a man who stuck to his ideas and principles regardless of the situation, and a man of obstinacy and discipline who lived almost a century. This is how history remembers Morarji Desai. But should it be just that?"During the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, Morarji Desai as Chief Minister of Bombay state ordered police firing on demonstrators at Flora Fountain, in which 105 people were killed. When Maharashtra was created, Flora Fountain was renamed Hutatma Chowk. Writes Madhukeshwar Desai: "What was confused for being adamant was his deep-rooted belief in what was right and wrong. Bapuji stuck by his core principles that grew from his struggles through life from a young age, his inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, and his devotion to God. He knew the Bhagavat Gita verbatim and always turned to it when in doubt."Reputed journalist Karan Thapar once wrote that Morarji Desai was the most hated man in Doon School when he came visiting in 1968 because he insisted on delivering his speech in Hindi and criticised the boys for shaking his hand instead of the greeting him with a ‘Namaste'.