As leaders cutting across political borders trudged into the Andhra Bhawan to pay their respects to the deceased chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, a forlorn figure dressed in starched white quietly observed the proceedings.

“I was his personal attendant in New Delhi for the last six years, I was promoted just as he became Chief Minister for the first time in 2004,” said Jagat Singh.

Brought up in Uttar Pradesh, Singh is one of the few employees at the Andhra Bhawan who cannot speak in Telugu. “It was not a problem with Sir, he always spoke to me in Hindi because he knew I did not understand Telugu,” Singh says.

On his sojourns to the Capital, YSR, as the chief minister was popularly known, always stayed at the CM’s cottage in Andhra Bhawan — a stately, no-fuss, white bungalow behind the main building.

Most of his personal staff, including his driver, generally flew in from Hyderabad with him.

“He never insisted on any special arrangements, people could just come in and meet him, often without appointments,” Singh recalled. “In fact, he even insisted on eating the food from the Andhra Bhawan canteen. He was truly one of the most unassuming men I ever knew.”

The last time Singh spoke to YSR was when he was in Delhi on August 18 for a two-day official visit. “He told me that he was planning to come back in mid-September,” Singh said.

What surprised him — and other employees at Andhra Bhawan — was Reddy’s ability to interact with the same attentiveness with everyone he met.

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