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Picture by Prateek Jain on Dr Manmohan Singh's first day as Finance minister - apparently hangs at @ThePrintIndia office. It is a day I still remember - I was thrilled at the thought of what a magnificent opportunity it was for a professional to do something this big for the country. And of course, later he got an even bigger opportunity that he delivered on equally well! I also remember one of his subsequent interviews where he said that since he had already had a coronary bypass before 1991, his friends advised him against taking so taxing and thankless a job. His answer was that he was willing to die in the service of the nation. Many dismiss his 1991 reforms as having been dictated by the IMF but the number of countries with multiple crises and that struggle for years, if not decades, is legion. Here we were out of it and on our way in less than a year. Nevertheless being the honorable man and the academic at heart he was, I remember an interview on completion of 25 years of the reforms where he must've named at least 15 to 20 others with whom he wanted to share the credit for the reforms - so very different from most other politicians and leaders. What my generation has forgotten is how we were at the right place at the right time with the liberalisation. The salaries of the 80s were at a totally different plane by the year 2000. For the very first time salaried employees could reach real affluence and wealth by the end of their careers - something which was unthinkable for our parents' generation. It is something we have taken for granted. On a macro basis he was great for the IT and ITES business which then drove both primary and secondary employment for decades on end. For me personally, his 1992 budget that began the opening of the market to foreign investors was the landmark event. This became the trigger for me to start on my entrepreneurial journey and for the professional securities industry to take birth in India. Even when he was Prime Minister and the world saw the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) 2008 onwards, India sidestepped it with the highest GDP growth while reducing debt - a mind boggling feat he has got little credit for. Most repeat the same tired old cliches of policy paralysis in UPA 2. As always, hardly anyone looks at the data, which shows an achievement unparalleled by even a single other country in the world at the time. It was the debt reduction and the consequent reduction in interest cost in the budget that created room to fund all the rights based legislations that he brought including Right to information, food, education etc. There was no MNERGA tax or cess. Funds were found within the budget. Here are extracts from his epoch-making 1991 speech “I do not minimise the difficulties that lie ahead on the long and arduous journey on which we have embarked. But as Victor Hugo once said, “No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come”. I suggest to this august House that the emergence of India as a major economic power in the world happens to be one such idea. Let the whole world hear it loud and clear. India is now wide awake. We shall prevail. We shall overcome.” For me there is also a personal echo in his life story. Dr Singh had completed Matriculation (Class 10) and my father had completed Intermediate (Class 12) when the Partition happened and the families were displaced. From what Dr Singh said in interviews it is clear that he faced similar pressures, that my father did, of being asked to get a job and help his family economically rather than study. Both of them fought very hard to study, had outstanding academic careers, went right up to doctorates and chose academic careers. Of course, Dr Singh rose to MUCH greater heights in other spheres.