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 ‘At one of these Conferences, Sharad made a presentation in which he stated, “The Post is a factor of Social, Intellectual and Economic Development.” This was highly appreciated by our Director General. Since then the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), raised substantially its aid to UPU’s Technical Assistance programme. But despite this, Sharad did not get the expected promotion. ‘He was spiteful of people who were not competent and it used to show in his behaviour. In fact, he used to call them “skunks”. Such was his strong dislike. In a way, I could understand it. Majority of the persons UPU used to recruit came from the post offices in different countries, who had risen from the ranks of a sorter or something at that level. Naturally, they were not a match for Sharad’s brilliant mind. ‘At one time, I recall, Sharad had worked out a very good system for a particular aspect of working in his department though he was soon going to be transferred elsewhere. When I asked him why he worked so hard on that project though he was going to leave that department, his reply was, “It is not given to everyone to eat the fruit of a tree he had planted.” ‘After this he told me a story of the fourth disciple of Jesus which went something like this. A big bright star was spotted in Bethlehem on the day Jesus was born. That is why we make star-shaped lanterns at Christmas. There were three saints who saw that star and by intuition knew that Jesus was born. They left for Bethlehem to welcome Jesus and be his disciples. In due course they reached and could show their love to the tiny Jesus. This story of the three saints is famous. But subsequent part of the story, which Sharad narrated, is hardly known. There was a fourth saint who had also spotted that star and had left his home in Europe for Bethlehem even before the other three saints. He wanted to be the first disciple of Jesus. Unfortunately, he was caught by the dacoits in the jungle en route. All his belongings 60

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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage