THE legendary Customs officer, Mr Daya Shankar, who inspiringly fully lived his inner life, yesterday morning at 7.40 AM in Melbourne, embraced the arms of his permanent resting-room, and said good-bye to the Mother Earth. He is survived by his wife, a young son, dozens of close friends and lakhs of well wishers who had never seen or known him except for his encyclopedic acts of grit, courage and integrity. Born in 1952 in a village near Patna, he did his masters in science and then joined the Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Excise) in 1978. Right from his probation days, he showed his shining armour of honesty, dedication and sheer courage for truth and rules. By the time he was posted at Bombay Airport, the gold smuggling was the most glittering cross-border trade at its youth. His dedication for work and ruthlessness to enforce rules soon produced unheard of results - cold shivers went through the spine of the kingpins of the organised trade. A series of mega seizures of gold and silver put a halt to the flourishing trade, which turned dry to the extent that the gold salesmen in Dubai began to market information like when Mr Daya Shankar was off the duty, along with their yellow wares.
Since the gold syndicates had found an alternative along the Gujarat and Konkan coastlines for safe landing of their consignments carried in dhows (small boats), the CBEC had no choice but to again rely on its one-many army Mr Daya Shankar to monitor the sensitive coastlines. Although his Department had poor infrastructure to support him, he never cared for that and used to lead his team of daredevils in a slow-moving dhow to intercept the gold-laden dhows coming from Dubai. Undeterred by the fact that the smugglers' dhows had the advantage of getting 'inputs' from Dubai through satellite mobile phones, he used to chase and trap them in the deep sea rather than the coastline where the consignments used to disappear in small lots. And, for several years, he did what he was good at - a series of seizures, which finally contained smuggling activities, and forced the rising star on smuggling horizon Dawood Ibrahim to salute his courage as reported by the then Illustrated Weekly.
With the Customs topbrass getting intelligence about a serious threat to his life, he was forcibly sent to Australia on a 'Study Leave'. There he lost his preventive existence into the original research work relating to IPRs. As he had a fulfilling stint with the world of R & D, he sought voluntary retirement from North Block and got associated with the Deakin University. His love for IPRs vis -a-vis Third World countries had become so deep-rooted that his analytical commentaries had become legendary. I met him in New Delhi when he had come to India for a lecture on his perhaps 'first wife' - the IPR. During my interaction he, in a short span of time, sensitised me about how badly India and other poor countries need to gear up to catch up with the lost time for safeguarding its own intellectural property wealth. Meanwhile, while granting him voluntary retirement last year, the former Finance Minister and now the President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had written in his file - ''He is an exceptional, good and honest officer''.
Though Mr Daya Shankar never told his friends what he actually believed in but, at the hindsight, it appears that he was more inspired by the karma yoga of Bhagavat Gita. He always practised SELFLESS ACTION, which was also the sole motivating force for Mahatma Gandhi who wrote: "The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing the most excellent way to attain self-realization" and this can be achieved by selfless action, "By desireless action; by renouncing fruits of action; by dedicating all activities to God, i.e., by surrendering oneself to Him body and soul."
And this is what Mr Daya Shankar seems to have done - he was such a simple and humble soul that no desire could have come closer to him; he renounced the fuits of his action, which his Department wanted to give him in the form of 'Reward' to the tune of several lakhs; the miracle of coming out unscathed after raiding smugglers and tax evaders was possible only because he had dedicated all his activities to God; and he has now finally surrendered himself to HIM (the almighty). Unlike others in the Government service who retire at the age of 60, he retired his life exactly at 60. TIOL salutes his legend and his dedication for public service coupled with moral values in life, which he has left behind for his colleagues and fellow officers in the Department to emulate him. May his soul rest in peace.
Source:- Mr Shailendra,Tax India Online
Since the gold syndicates had found an alternative along the Gujarat and Konkan coastlines for safe landing of their consignments carried in dhows (small boats), the CBEC had no choice but to again rely on its one-many army Mr Daya Shankar to monitor the sensitive coastlines. Although his Department had poor infrastructure to support him, he never cared for that and used to lead his team of daredevils in a slow-moving dhow to intercept the gold-laden dhows coming from Dubai. Undeterred by the fact that the smugglers' dhows had the advantage of getting 'inputs' from Dubai through satellite mobile phones, he used to chase and trap them in the deep sea rather than the coastline where the consignments used to disappear in small lots. And, for several years, he did what he was good at - a series of seizures, which finally contained smuggling activities, and forced the rising star on smuggling horizon Dawood Ibrahim to salute his courage as reported by the then Illustrated Weekly.
With the Customs topbrass getting intelligence about a serious threat to his life, he was forcibly sent to Australia on a 'Study Leave'. There he lost his preventive existence into the original research work relating to IPRs. As he had a fulfilling stint with the world of R & D, he sought voluntary retirement from North Block and got associated with the Deakin University. His love for IPRs vis -a-vis Third World countries had become so deep-rooted that his analytical commentaries had become legendary. I met him in New Delhi when he had come to India for a lecture on his perhaps 'first wife' - the IPR. During my interaction he, in a short span of time, sensitised me about how badly India and other poor countries need to gear up to catch up with the lost time for safeguarding its own intellectural property wealth. Meanwhile, while granting him voluntary retirement last year, the former Finance Minister and now the President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had written in his file - ''He is an exceptional, good and honest officer''.
Though Mr Daya Shankar never told his friends what he actually believed in but, at the hindsight, it appears that he was more inspired by the karma yoga of Bhagavat Gita. He always practised SELFLESS ACTION, which was also the sole motivating force for Mahatma Gandhi who wrote: "The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing the most excellent way to attain self-realization" and this can be achieved by selfless action, "By desireless action; by renouncing fruits of action; by dedicating all activities to God, i.e., by surrendering oneself to Him body and soul."
And this is what Mr Daya Shankar seems to have done - he was such a simple and humble soul that no desire could have come closer to him; he renounced the fuits of his action, which his Department wanted to give him in the form of 'Reward' to the tune of several lakhs; the miracle of coming out unscathed after raiding smugglers and tax evaders was possible only because he had dedicated all his activities to God; and he has now finally surrendered himself to HIM (the almighty). Unlike others in the Government service who retire at the age of 60, he retired his life exactly at 60. TIOL salutes his legend and his dedication for public service coupled with moral values in life, which he has left behind for his colleagues and fellow officers in the Department to emulate him. May his soul rest in peace.
Source:- Mr Shailendra,Tax India Online
