Before the Big Bang    Chapter Twenty  

 Some events, when they happen, take on a  look stranger than fiction for they are beyond ordinary comprehension. You don’t want to believe in them, miracles being a thing of the past. But what if the experience confirms them? Cynicism must take a back seat before the experience. What happened to Sattan Maharaj who was cornered by a CPI mob for taking illegally and forcibly Itwari, a poor man’s landed property and who succeeded in somehow escaping from them fell into this category. His heart underwent such change after this event that he not only returned the land deed to the borrower but excused him the whole principal . His good Samaritan act just didn’t stop there . In one month’s time he got himself rid of money lending business altogether and started sitting in the temple of Hanuman he built earlier in front of his house , depending for living entirely on rent from a couple of rows of houses . He devoted his entire time worshipping Hanumanji , chanting Hanuman Chalisa reportedly from memory. He confided to those who listened to him that he was grateful to Harinarayan Mishra for showing him the righteous path , the path of honesty.The news of this change of heart and his sentiment of gratitude for Com. Mishra  reached the CPI office too. It could be a feeler of some kind , some surmised .But the majority of comrades were inclined to believe this transformation to be genuine .

‘ In the coming municipal election he could be made our candidate from his ward . His gratefulness to Mishra da is real. I can vouch for that. ‘said Com Bankelal 

‘But before that we’ve to find out whether he’s willing to contest the seat at all. Even if he agrees to , what if he says that he’d do so as an independent candidate .’said Hazra .

‘That won’t be a problem,’ said Mishra da,’ we shall cross the bridge when we come to it.’ Com Mishra da was not interested in discussing things not in existence. The matter was still in a state of hypothesis.

                              Whether he actually contested the forthcoming municipal election under their banner became immaterial to the comrades. What was significant was  Sattan Mahararaj’s desire to associate with the Party and because he was after all an influential person in the locality he could mean quite a lot in terms of votes . In other words, he could be a gain for the Party with his antecedents erased. 

                The Party had so many things in the fire at the moment. The district committee had fixed a quota of Rs 10,000 for Assam flood victims from Kadampur . Workers of one chemical factory and two beedi factories were already on strike and dharna .Add to this the assembly session which meant that Com. Mishra would himself not be available for most of the time here . Unless full and right kind of propaganda was made inside the railway workshop , the gate collection wouldn’t yield much for Assam flood affected people . The immense task taxed organizing abilities of leaders .

        Biren Chakrabarty was heard to say,’I’m kept out of the workshop gate collection.Since I’m confined to coordinate activities of beedi workers on dharna I’ll do that. At intervals I’ll sell Party literature at Chandani Chowk .’

‘Are you going right now to Chandani Chowk ?’asked Krishnapada.

‘Yes.’

‘Please take theses copies of Swdhinata .’ he handed them over to him .

                  When the Party was in such a whirlpool of activities he couldn’t stand aloof even if he wished . He ,like others , had his quota to complete .He had not only to collect fund from students of the college but also to enlist their cooperation in making student squads to collect public donation at some specific market corners .

‘Ratnakar da , I can come to your squad Monday and Wednesday at 10 a.m. That is, two days of your three-day programme. Friday I shall be out.’ Rima announced .

‘What about you, Ketaki?’

‘Well, only on Monday. But it’s possible I may give you another date while I join you on Monday. ‘ Ketaki ,the first year student , was hesitating for some reason .

‘This isn’t a month-long programme.’he said,’ we have only one week’s time .Assam flood victims need immediate relief. Remember , the chance to do work for others may not always come your way .’ Ketaki looked at Ratnakar for a moment, then slowly bent her eyes.

 Ratnakar had a list of 8 boys and 2 girls already with him. Rima and Ketaki made it 12 which he thought was sufficient for the purpose. Even if some of them skipped, the programme would stand without being materially affected.

            To say Ratnakar didn’t think of Chameli Chatterjee once in a while in the midst of action-full of his life would be negating a truth . Actually he’d learnt to live in two worlds. One was the world of ideals to which he remained dedicated despite all the odds .The other world , about whose existence he was unaware till the other day, was for him full of mysterious invitation. When Chameli filled the form under the shadow of the tree sitting close to him she was every inch real. Now she was on the other side of the pool, turning an elf , with the distance growing . He felt he didn’t have the wings to fly to the other side where she dwelt among trees and flowers. The elemental force seemed to intervene somewhere.

                     The reality has the attribute of pinching a man in one form or another if he ignores it for a long time .  Chameli Chatterjee , the reality , couldn’t be thought of without reference to his family and their social standing and aspirations .But wasn’t that jumping too fast ? Perhaps. In that case the relationship that he was visualizing couldn’t be one beyond station waiting room acquaintance prism.

                        It was past midnight and sleep was still eluding him .He was lying in a cot in the open in front of his tin-roofed study with a mosquito-net set on it .High above the net were branches of margosa tree with small dense leaves blocking his view of the moon . He opened the net slightly, enough to place his head out, and was surprised to see the moon as if it had moved to the spot for his benefit. Between his eye and the moon he could perceive hundreds of lines of bright light racing towards him and breaking somewhere in the middle. Were they communicating some message to him?  If so, he couldn’t decode them. But he fell asleep in that position. When, he didn’t know.

He woke up in the morning to a slew of programme lined up for him starting from writing posters in the Party office for a mass-meeting five days hence at Victoria ground, to a students’ meeting in the college, to visiting an ailing comrade in the hospital in the evening .In a matter of minutes he finished everything including breakfast and was on his way to the office on his creaking bicycle .He knew the cycle needed repair badly . But where was the time for it? 

The office was open but the scene inside the room he was to write posters was daunting : there was a litter of torn papers and some beedi stubs  spattered on the mat reminding one of yesterday’s work.Biren da alone was there sitting on this mat without any sign of discomfort in his usual posture of a burning beedi in his mouth , and another doused beedi on the tip of his ear, with a newspaper in his hand . 

‘Why so early ?’ Biren da was visibly astonished to see Ratnakar at that hour . ‘There isn’t a comrade for you to talk to . And the room isn’t cleaned yet . ‘

‘I’ve come to write posters . I promised to give at least 20 posters to Bera and Rao today .’Ratnakar said .  

‘Mad.You’re really mad .You could write them at a comfortable hour during the day as the others do. ‘Biren da admonished him.

‘Because today I shall be busy during the whole college hours.’Ratnakar explained. ‘I can’t come back leaving the college in the midway to write posters . I must finish them in all cases before I go to college .’

‘I was actually going to lock the office as it was time for my cup of tea.’ Biren da laughed.’If you’re but five minutes late , you’d have found the door shut .’ Ratnakar didn’t know what to say now that he was still laughing.

‘I’m going out for tea. How long do you mean to stay here?’ asked Biren da.

‘At least for an hour. Maybe half an hour more.’

‘I hope to come back by then. But don’t leave the office in any case until another comrade comes.’ Birenda had his responsibility in the matter .

             Ratnakar was so long continuing conversation standing . After Biren da’s departure he took the broomstick to clean the area on the mat for him to write the posters .He found the colours safely kept at a place .

Before the Big Bang   Chapter Eighteen   

When Jagadish and Ratnakar were listening to Chalpati’s narration of an anecdote extolling the virtues of one Mr Bajoria so soon after Bhajanlal’s anti-teacher misdeed in which Bajoria’s complicity was suspected, and were wondering whether they were getting the message rightly, Sukhlal Sharma, entered the room somewhat despondently . 

‘Ah, Sukhlal,  come, sit here, please .’ Chalpati said to him pointing to a place beside him on the mat , with a smile on his face .

When he sat on the mat Chalpati asked ,’Is everything all right ?’

‘I told you about my problem sometime ago and …’

‘Yes , you apprised me about your predicament . That was a month ago. But you didn’t turn up on the appointed day. ‘Chalpati’s tone was encouraging rather than complaining.

‘I couldn’t come earlier because I was searching for some papers which were misplaced. Who knew District Inspector of Schools would require theses papers to release my dearness allowance? I was getting my DA so long without these papers.” Sukhlal said .

He handed over to Chalpati two small worn out papers saying,’ Please write a reply in such English that the DI of Schools’  eyes  remain stuck to it and read it twice to understand it .’

‘ But I’ll write it in a style that makes the points clear  in just one reading .’ Chalpati said this and then explained why .

                    He started reading the papers. Since the problem was discussed by Sukhlal earlier , Chalpati knew all that was relevant to his case . While writing the draft he asked Sukhlal a question or two . The matter was ready in 20 minutes during which time  Jagadish and Ratnakar engaged themselves in translation of a Hindi passage into English . They were there to do exactly that –learn translation .  

                    Sukhlal could not suppress his happiness breaking into a smile when Chalpati handed him back the finished papers in the friendly atmosphere that obtained there. For the same thing he’d to bow to others .Here he was at ease. Because of this difference a lot of Hindi primary school teachers flocked to him and enjoyed his company . 

‘Thank you , Chalpatijee for this . You can’t imagine how distressed and troubled I was for this .’

‘Sukhlaljee, now you’re embarrassing me. Aren’t you one of our friends?’ Sukhlal was touched.

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Before Jagadish and Ratnakar entered Chalpati’s house they were engaged in an interesting conversation. 

‘Where was Chalpati when the agitation was taking a shape –a dangerous shape?’ Jagadish Rao asked the question , alluding  to what happened after Balanandan’s summary dismissal .

‘He was present in it right from the beginning. Only you didn’t know about it because you’re busy with, ehem, your studies. ‘ Ratnakar replied . ‘But you ought to have known of his involvement in it as you study in the same school where he teaches .’

‘You make me feel stupid.’ Jagadish said sadly.’But I tell you he never discussed it in the class.’

‘That shows his strategy. He talks about theses things after school hours .’ Ratnakar said .’He called Ramakant Singh ,Subba Rao and other students to his place to put in motion protest of students against the unjust act. Though , as you know, I’m a railway school student, I was asked to take a leading role in it .’ 

‘The picture is clear. But one thing remains to be asked .’ 

‘What’s that?’

‘How did teachers of other schools come into the Hindi school picture?’

“Here again he took the initiative of approaching secretary of a Bengali school’s teachers’ association to intercede on behalf of the dismissed teacher. Though he didn’t set much hope on their support but he got more than what one could expect. All the teachers en bloc came to his school to stand by the victimized teacher.’   

                     Jagadish Rao never smoked, nor ever chewed betels that made lips red.

His only concern was studies . He was rarely seen outside roaming after school hours. But after this incident his respect for Chalpati grew, and he started visiting Chalpati’s house along with other students . Chalpati became a walking institution. Even when he was visiting a colleague, he was accompanied by, among others, a couple of students. That he was a moving spirit in some of the public causes of this town should go without saying.

                 Chalpati had many-faceted personality. No surprise his house became a meeting place for a section of people with literary leanings. Some young Hindi poets and story writers found in him enough to admire his scholarship . 

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After Sukhlal’s departure Chalpati got ready for a walk to one of his friends’place .Though they were trudging their way leisurely Ratnakar had a problem with the cycle he was carrying awkwardly. But this sort of inconvenience had become part of group strolling , a habit .When they crossed the rail level crossing at Mandir gate ,Chalpati decided to take a turn towards a narrow lane where three couldn’t walk together : one had to remain behind .They reached Pardeshi Master’s house which was on the ground floor of Kaminibai’s building .The cycle was kept locked in front of his house . Chalpati,instead of  knocking at Pardeshi Master’s house, started ascending the staircase . Ratnakar and Jagadish were following him not knowing where Chalpati was leading .Pardeshi Master , a primary school headmaster by profession , was well-known to them, friendly and generous .But upstairs of the building they never went . They reached the top floor which had only one room, with the open space occupied by a group of children and clothes to dry. A smell of stale food products mixed in the air.  

Chalpati knocked on the door .Promptly the door opened and a middle-aged man, somewhat tall, appeared and greeted him. With preliminaries over in Telugu , he started speaking English.It is then Chalpati said to them : ‘This is Mr E Suryanarayana Rao , secretary of E.Railwaymen’s union of Kadampur .I wanted to make this meeting a surprise for both of you and Mr Rao. You’re too young to understand but note he’s a big man in this field –working class in your parlance .’

‘You mean he’s secretary of the union office that’s situated 3 or four blocs off this place?’ Ratnakar asked .

‘Precisely that, yes .’ Chalpati nodded. 

“But why should he live here in this small place when he has the union’s whole building with several big rooms under his command?’ Ratnakar addressed Chalpati ,wondering .

‘This is not a proper question to ask because he has just come from Gardenreach and is still a newcomer.’ Chalpati was feeling uncomfortable at the unexpected question .Mr E Suryanarayana had understood the question .He answered : ‘I live here because I don’t want to misuse the office .Using office for any purpose other than for what it was meant may not be considered proper .’

Chalpati talked to Suryanarayana for some more time .He came here especially to find from him if he was at ease in here. No, he was satisfied , relaxed .When they were leaving the place , Mr Rao took out some papers from his old files and gave them to Jagadish Rao saying ,’Read the demands of the union and the correspondence on them . They’ll apprise you of the real working conditions of railway men which remain largely unknown to people outside the rail because they don’t get published , they never come to light .’

‘Oh , thank you ,Sir .’Jagadish said .’We both will read them.’ 

                  Though the visit to Suryanaryana’s place was not repeated ,Ratnakar had occasion to see him a couple of times near the union office . Earlier , this union office which was on his way to a library where he often went did not arouse in him any curiosity .Now it had become a subject of interest ,however passing .In the evening , the union office buzzed with activities with office  bearers listening to problems , typing letters to proper authorities for redress, and so on.

‘ I may not be familiar with all problems or troubles of railway men but I surely know about some of them because  my brother,as you know,  is a rail engine driver .’ Jagadish said to Ratnakar when they were walking together after attending a function .

‘Well…’ 

‘What’s the use of knowing or discussing about a problem when you don’t have a solution for them .’ Jagadish pronounced his opinion .

‘The power of solution lies with the authority .The administration has to be forced to wake up .’ Jagadish argued. 

‘In the one type quarter where I live there’s not enough space to put 4 cots but seven people live there .’Jagadish stated.’ Where shall I study? And where my driver brother will sleep after his 12 plus hours duty? He needs to be fit the next day to drive again .’

‘The only way to get out of this hovel’s existence is to start an organized fight.’ Ratnakar was agitated.   

‘That’s easier said than practiced .The railway administration will dismiss those who strike . So,’ Jagadish said ,’ it’s better to put up with the situation right now till the time ‘s ripe for a strike .’

‘ And the conclusion is : all will wait for time to ripe .’ Ratnakar commented. Needless to say , the wait continued .

Before the Big Bang   Chapter Seventeen

             Since Ratnakar was also a part of the squad hunting the notorious moneylender his memory got refreshed when they were passing by the back of a school where a momentous incident took place some years ago and where he had to lead processions of students quite a few times. A fiery and emotional Hindi speaker was how some estimated him. But, he realized later, he was neither fiery nor emotional. The incident that occasioned these attributes to him was the dismissal of a teacher which created a row that was never witnessed in the school’s history and in which he led students’ movement in favor of the teacher. 

                       N.S.Balanandan , Nandan to his friends , worked as an assistant teacher in this Hindi high school. Born in a Brahmin family and brought up in Anglo-Indian ambience, he had enough reasons to feel different from, if not superior to, others in the school. Instead he came to be known as an astonishingly generous and mild-mannered man who never let his colleagues feel that he was not one of them. With his disarming free culture he mixed with the staff and became popular with them. Since he was basically a devoted teacher he became an instant success with students. 

                    But all was not well with the school. Though it was affiliated to the State’s high school board, it was a private school. This created all the problems. Its managing committee, by which was meant its president, was the last word in all matters .Decisions were arbitrary and consequently the staff lived under unnamed threat .There was of course a way out of this terror .Those who wanted freedom from it had to go to the president’s house where he held court much in the manner of a king .The president was a businessman who lived at *Chandani Chowk, a big flourishing railway market at the centre of Kadampur . He never committed the mistake of appointing teachers on the basis of merit, and eased those out who dared to differ with him on any issue. It was a wrong place for Nandan to be in. He never went to his *gaddi to pay respect to him.

                      The result was he was discharged from service by a one line order not showing even a ground. But this time the president did not reckon with the change in political scene that had already taken place and the teacher’s immense popularity among students and his equations with some important people outside the school .The students came out in large numbers to protest against what they considered the unjust act . A strike was organized by students of other schools in sympathy with the striking students of the Hindi school who lay a siege to it demanding the headmaster to bring the president in the school to withdraw his order of dismissal. Though the president tried to influence the town police station, the administration in face of the angry protest, played the justice card. The president had to beat an ignominious retreat.

                               The withdrawal of dismissal notice was undoubtedly a victory for Nandan who was reinstated in his post with no break in service, it was a pyrrhic victory because he lost in the process quite a few friendships. Majority of the staff sided with the president while the rest were just silent. So, what followed in the school after his reinstatement was an uneasy calm with earlier bonhomie being a thing of history. When people come face to face with the question of eking out an existence the moral principles of friendship or honesty which they otherwise glorify disappear. It is the principle of existence that becomes the supreme guide. The colleagues continued to go to the president’s house to dance attendance upon him, while Nandan,in his victory, became isolated and turned a sadder man . 

                             How the president ,Bhajanlal ,came to wield such enormous power in his person was a wonder to many .He had the inspector of schools verily at his beck and call and , it was said ,nothing against the managing committee could ever be officially registered there whoever  might be petitioning , complaining against any fault of the school . Mr. Lal rarely, if ever, visited the D.I. of schools office which was situated in the district town ten miles off Kadampur . It was all the way a play of money power, except that all the money belonged to the school. How he siphoned off this money from school must remain a mystery. A couple of teachers handpicked by Lal especially for liaison job at the DI office would do exactly what the president wanted them to do. Obviously, it was this strength of manipulation that made Lal cling to this post and power for nearly 12 years till the present event burst , without ever having to face any election .He surely had the brains to pull strings _ this man .

                       What was deeply interesting in this drama was a complete absence of any valid reason in the termination order of the president .Nandan was never known as a communist sympathizer in the society dominated entirely by the Congress. Communist Party of India had just started to open its ideological bag on the footpath. He was not connected with anything communistic .On the contrary, he came from a background which abhorred the very sound of communism. Though there were some instances of teachers being singled out for their harassment for communistic leanings, he never fell in that category. And yet …

                             Nandan never considered he was breaking any of the rules by not going to his gaddi. But he was dismissed like so many others prior to him. If some of them were taken back, it was after their complete and abject surrender to him. Nandan’s case could have added another proper number to the string but for a factor. It took the turn it did because the blatantly illegal dismissal was published in a Calcutta daily with wide circulation in the town on the front page with the story given full space. It was because of this blitzkrieg of publicity that the students and intellectuals took the cudgels on behalf of Nandan . The journalist who reported small events came into sudden prominence for his sensational scoop. He was none other than Ratnakar.

Before the Big Bang     Chapter Fourteen

                              While most Party comrades and supporters were certain that Com. Harinarayan  Mishra would win the election , there was a small section of thinking comrades who did not conceal their reservation about its outcome despite a visible wave  of  support for their Party  as they were also aware of their transparent weaknesses in not being able to provide polling agents inside a large number of booths .What happened in those booths could only be guessed. So ran their argument. But when the result of Kadampur assembly constituency was declared , it was called expected and not surprising : Harinarayan  Mishra defeated his nearest Congress rival by an impressive margin.

             Even though it was an election victory its impact sent the moneyed class representing varied interests swooning as they could not visualize a situation in which Congress could be humbled in this dusty town. It was the fear of red flag dominating all aspects of Kadampur's life that psychologically unnerved them.But the vested interests soon came out of this temporary paralysis and life returned to normal.. Mill and factory owners, big businessmen, moneylenders et al came back to their old tricks of exploitation because the Congress was back in the driver's seat in the State which meant the Government was there to see they continued to do what they had been doing unhindered .But the trade union movement certainly got a boost in the aftermath of this victory. The tremor caused by this movement made local capitalists come to negotiating table several times which was not the case earlier.

                    Sections of working class and the poor started believing that CPI was a Party which could stand by them in their hour of need. It might sound unusual but the fact was that rickshaw pullers came to the Party office on their own in groups to urge the comrades to form their union to resist their exploitation at the hands of *** rickshaw khatal wallahs ~ rickshaw owners ~who gave rickshaws to pullers on hire, and municipal staff and police, not to speak of powerful people who gave them less fare than what was agreed to. The problem of rickshaw stand gnawed at them. 

                     Harinarayan Mishra intervened personally in quite a few cases of dispute between rickshaw pullers and passengers right on the spots and made  the mighty or dignified passengers pay them their legitimate fare .The defence of rickshaw pullers in this absolute manner shot up Com Mishra's image among them . To cut a long story short, he became a visible face or force at most rickshaw stands. They got an identity, they thought, because of Com. Mishra . They became persons. 

                                   With the victory magnifying the Party morale, organizational activities at several levels increased manifold. It was then that the union at a chemical extract factory where about 400 people worked drew searching attention of most Party men because of problems created by the railway by not supplying the required number of wagons to bring raw materials and send finished products. Under an old arrangement the railway made tracks which passed across a municipal road to reach inside this factory. One coal-powered engine used to carry wagons for unloading-loading goods purposes. The railway administration's decision to give fewer number of wagons than asked for and to delay their supply couldn’t but be described as arbitrary and whimsical. That this whim had put the factory owner at a great disadvantage and loss was no concern of the railway. But if the factory existed, so did the workers. The workers' union had, on the one hand, to fight against the management's exploitation, and on the other, help it  get required number of wagons from the railway .Clearly ,Harinarayan Mishra's turning  a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) increased his clout in official circles of railway but it still fell short of the necessary force to get results .The union had to learn to strike a balance between being friendly and hostile to the management .A trade union could not continue without being constructive in the present set-up.

                 Com.Santra , who was a worker himself ,was the secretary of this union .He had a hard time  disciplining the workers and explaining them union's limitations .  

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                    Who said the Party had no dreamers? Kadampur Party had one in Shanti 'da . After delivering papers to subscribers or selling literature he would come back to the Party office and sit at a place keeping distance from other comrades losing himself in thoughts. Asked by friends he'd reply he was witnessing a big red flag, almost sky-size, being unfurled at Red Fort .He'd insist he saw this happening from a close range. He said he was thinking about that.

                       Shanti da might be laughed at as a foolish dreamer or dismissed as a psychiatric case. But what about those who saw the same dream but did not talk about it? To say Kadampur had not its quota of dreamers would be utterly unrealistic. 

                    In the Party office Durgapada Ghosh was thinking loudly about the provision of co-option of an outsider as a member in the chemical factory union .He was told by Com. Santra ,the union's secretary,in a recent meeting that a member from the Party could be immensely helpful in the union at this moment for strategic reasons  .

                         Biren Chakrabarty looking at Durgapada slowly said , choosing every word , ' Ratnakar can be co-opted as a member in the workers' union .' 

'He's busy preparing for his final examination right now. Think of some other name. For instance, Jagadish Rao.' Nabin Mitra was not in favour of Ratnakar's name because he was doing a good job as a student leader , and disturbing him wasn't likely to bring any luck to the workers' union which was currently going through a bad time .

'But he fits the bill.' Durgapada insisted.

'Then ask him. He might consider it after his exam. His opinion is necessary if he's sent to the union as a co-opted member ' Mitra argued .

'I think it's not a simple matter.'Biren da smiled.'Since the issue of co-option has to be discussed in any case in the Party meeting , we have to wait as other suggestions are also likely especially from Mishra da.' 

              When friends in the Party office were discussing whether or not to initiate Ratnakar into trade unionism he was scratching his head over publication of college magazine the articles for which had already been collected and were lying with him without any further processing. Though elected secretary of literary and magazine section , Ratnakar had one shortcoming : He was not as proficient in Bengali as in Hindi and English. Except for a few write-ups in Hindi and English  all the others were in Bengali which sent tremors down him .In addition to selection and editing , the process of publication of the magazine ,he thought , involved finding a printer or publisher ,reading proofs , keeping time schedule and a lot of other things .The problem ,to him, was intractable . Ratnakar became acutely aware that he alone could not complete the job in the expected manner and time .It was then that the name of Alok Sarkar , who preceded him as secretary in the same section , struck him with a force .He had passed the IA exam the previous year and was still to settle for a college in Calcutta for further studies . This youngman had already come to limelight for having published a book of poems in his school days. Since he was far ahead of others in knowledge of publication matter , Ratnakar considered , he could be approached  to seek his advice  , as he had not left Kadampur yet .But would he help him in publication of magazine which involved both time and physical movement was the question that stumped him . It was quite true Alok was not a stranger to him as Ratnakar had occasions to meet him before he joined this college .Ratnakar tried . He discussed the problem with him and sought his opinion about it all .Alok went much further than expected and told Ratnakar he was prepared to take full responsibility of magazine's  publication if he did what he was expected to do in the union's meeting . Which of course was routine. The effect of this friendly and generous act was that he was relieved of a mental pressure which was increasingly becoming intolerable; and was free to engage in other organizational activities. Thankful? No. Because he remained ignorant of the art and science of publication for ever. But of this, some other time.

                     Ratnakar's Victoria ground * adda friends were not devoid of talents If Chalpati was a scholar of English of note ,Mani- though a graduate of science 'was an excellent speaker of English in  his own right .What contributed to his commendable faculty in speech was the factor of his dwelling in Southside , an enclave of railway officers who , even after the departure of the British officers , kept the flag of English conversation up exclusively in this area .His father's being a railway officer had naturally something to do with this facility in the language .But unlike his father , he cut for himself a non-railway career of a teacher in a private high school .And because he preferred this profession to a job in the railway he was cut-off from the mainstream of  railway's way of life . He turned a casual visitor to this * adda .

                        But Mani had one more talent: he was a story writer  on short notice .Give him a pack of Charminar cigarettes and two hours and , it was said , you'd get a well-written short story in return .Just like that .

               Since Ratnakar had enough space in the soon-to-be-published college magazine for Hindi articles, even after absorbing the ones he had , he requested Mani , an outsider no doubt , to write a short story in the magazine .The short story captioned *** Kammo was ready the next day .It was a love-story slightly departing from the ordinary run of stories of the day .It was published in some student's name . The magazine was in the hands of the students in time , courtesy Alok Sarkar .