One Day in Patnagarh

 

(I am sitting at three from right, Goura Mahapatra is left to me. The photo was taken on the day I handed over charges)

I reached the office every day at ten; the office staffs of Patnagarh were also punctual. Goura Mohapatra was the senior clerk, a sincere and dependable man. He was well versed in treasury code. I did not have any difficulty  in managing the treasury. Most of the pensioners drawing pension from the treasury were fourth class employees, retired clerks or teachers. Patnagarh was a princely state; it was integrated with Odisha after independence. Patnagarh or Bolangir district being ruled by the king were not that developed, did not have many officers like in coastal districts such as  Cuttack, Puri or Balasore had.

That was perhaps first or second day of the month; the bank employees were on strike. We did not attend to the pension bills since they could not get payment as the bank was closed. I was relaxing and reading a novel. Five or six old people intruded into my room and requested, “Pay pension to us, we don’t have money.”

I explained, “I shall pass the bills, but the bank will not pay. Bankers are on strike. Come tomorrow.”

One of them said, “How can we return?”

I could not get it. They might have come by bus and also would return by bus. The buses were not on strike along with the bankers. Goura Mohapatra was in my room. I looked at him. He said, “Sir, they must have spent their pension by the end of the month. They might have come by burrowing one side of the bus fare. When they get pension, they make purchases of grocery goods for a fortnight or a month and return home. They are habitual drinkers and might have exhausted their pension even before end of the month; they might not have money for the return bus fare.” Then he told them, “What can Sir do? The bank is closed. Go back, come tomorrow.”

They did not move, stood silently before me. I took one hundred rupees from my wallet, gave to them and said, “Take your return bus fare, and come tomorrow. You cannot get pension today.”

They returned happily and the next day, they collected my hundred rupees and paid me back.

One day, after this incident, I was in the Sub Collector’s room chatting with him. Ambika Prasad Misra was the sub collector, an amiable and friendly person. I had passed the pension bills and also finished the day’s work. I had just dropped in Sub Collector’s room on my way back to my res. The Director of Treasuries reached suddenly, on a surprise inspection. He had been on Kalahandi tour and entered in our treasury en route back to Bhubaneswar. Found me absent, he got irritated and thought, being Patnagarh far away from Bhubaneswar, I might not be sincere and would have remained absent without application.

Goura Mohapatra told him the treasury officer was with the Sub Collector, but he did not listen to him. Some pensioners were there in front of the treasury. He asked them, “Are you getting pension regularly in time or having some trouble? Does the treasury officer come to the office every day?”

The pensioners present there told him, “Sir, the treasury officer is a godly person. We are old people, but he looks after us like his children, sometimes, helps us with money. We regard him like we respect our parents.”

I came from the Sub Collector’s office. The  pensioners who were somewhere near, when heard a big officer, senior to the treasury officer from Bhubaneswar had come and inquiring about the treasury officer, gathered and encircled the Director. One of them said, “Sir, we had never seen such an officer, so good and caring, not seen even when we were in service.”

Later, after the Director left Mr Mohapatra recounted the incident and what the pensioners spoke on me. Mohapatra was pleased. Praise for the officer also meant the treasury functioned well having no complaints. Only once I had given a few of them one hundred rupees which they had also returned the next day.

The Director went to my office room. The pensioners had left. In the mean time, Mohapatra had arranged sweets and tea for the Director. The peon served. The Director said, “Having spent some minutes with the pensioners and talking to them I no longer have any appetite, what more can I eat?”

The district treasury officer inspected the sub treasuries under his jurisdiction once in a year. One day after the surprise visit of the Director I asked Mr Purnachandra Babu, the district treasury officer, “Sir, when will you visit our treasury?”

He replied, “The Director told me, I am also hearing. I think there is no need of inspecting your office.”

*****

 

Books and Book Lovers

 

                                                

                          (Swayamprava Sahu, poet and writer is reading the novel Head Office)

One day, in 1986 or 87, I was in the quarters of an MLA, an acquaintance whom I called uncle, his nephew being my friend. He had gone somewhere. I was chatting with his wife. I caught sight of a heap of books under a cot. Those were Ramayan and Mahabharat in odia written by J.B.Patnaik, then Chief Minister of Odisha. I asked his wife, “What is uncle doing with the books?” His wife said, “Your uncle has bought two hundred books of the CM to distribute among the readers, of course, in order to impress him. You can take two, one Ramayan and one Mahabharat.” I got two books free.

Another day, after a few years, I was with Umesh Prasad Sahu, the publisher of Bharat Bharati. He published the books of the former CM. While chitchatting I said about Ramayan and Mahabharat which I got free from the MLA’s quarters.  Umesh Prasad said, “The book ultimately reaches the reader.”

( Reactions  of Priyadarshini , an Amazon reader on Amazon's customer review page on Head Office)

Readers, particularly of regional literature, are depleting over the years. The reasons are many. One reason, maybe, intrusion of TV into the drawing rooms with a large number of entertaining channels. Before spread of TV, an employee or an educated person used to pick up a magazine or book after he returned from office. Now TV has taken that time. Parents stress now their children on teaching in English medium schools. English knowledge or proficiency in English, they believe, brings them jobs. Another reason, and an important one, pressure on the students to seek more marks, and concentrate in studies only, so that they get seats in good colleges or universities, in other words, to land in secure jobs with handsome salary. They don’t have time for literature or play on the fields. They also even don’t have time to socialize. Their parents and well wishers also don’t encourage and they consider reading books, other than the textbooks, is wastage of time.

Still books sell, but books in English. Since the people prefer their children educated in English medium, the readers in English are increasing, and that is, at the cost of regional literature. Writers like Chetan Bhagat or Devdutt Patnaik are great success. Chetan’s books sell in millions. But the readers having a taste for literature will read books not only of English, but also books in the language he speaks or he will learn the original language, if possible, the book written in, to get the charm and feel of the book. Translation compromises originality.

                   (Kamal's reaction on the novel Head Office received as WhatsApp message)

I would like to give a couple of examples I have come across. I was in Cuttack. There is a magazine stall in Mangalabag I used to visit at least once in a week. Besides Odia magazines, he also sells English, Hindi and Bengli magazines. During Durga Puja he sells as many Bengli Puja special magazines as Odia magazines. The owner of the stall says, not only the Bengli speaking people, but also many Odias buy the Bengli magazines, especially the Puja special issues. Many Odias also buy Hindi magazines.

Apoorv Sarkar was working from the TCS in our office. He was from West Bengal, a Bengli speaking young man. He was a lover of books. He was excited to know I did write. Then, in 2007, my novel Kashatandira Swapna (Dreams of Kash Flowers) had just come out to market. He wanted to read and to read in Odia he started learning the language. He left TCS and joined another company. After around six months, one day he rang me up and told, he had finished my novel and also gave his comments on the book saying he identified him with the protagonist of the novel. The main character of the novel, Ajay has struggled to stand in the society, more or less, Apoorv had the same experience. He requested to suggest him good Odia books he should read.

Apoorv’s case maybe an exception, but it proves the point that a person having a taste for literature will like to learn the language he speaks, though he cannot write or read, to read the books written in his/her mother tongue. This is not a big deal for a book lover. An English medium educated child does not have much difficulty to learn his/her mother tongue.

Books reach the reader, if he knows about the book, and also it is available to him with ease. I know about the books either by reading reviews from the newspapers or magazines and from my book-lover-friends. I have a few friends, when I meet or ring up them, a question they must ask what book I am reading or which good book I have recently read. We discuss books we have read recently or are reading. Now I don’t wait for the book fair to buy books or look for a book in different book shops. In this pandemic time I do not also go outside. E-commerce platforms have made easy availability. My recently published Odia book, Head Office, is now available on Amazon and Flipkart. I have posted the book only on social media, in Facebook and WhatsApp and the result is encouraging. I am getting review of the book on Amazon customer review page and from my friends, those who have my number, messages on WhatsApp. I was inquiring with the publisher; he said, everyday he gets orders of one or two of the book and those are not only from cities like Cuttack or Bhubaneswar, but also from remote towns like Bhadrak, Phulbani or Koraput.

*****

GST Day

 

 

                                              (In the photo, I am at five from right in the third row from front)                                                                                 

 I propose to name my memoir; if I ever publish, A Reluctant Finance Officer. I have come from a humble background, from a lower middle class family, rather a family just above poverty line. I could not do anything after my studies except joining a government service. But the organisation I worked for soon disenchanted me, rather it proved repulsive. I could not quit the job also. I could not pull on well with many of my immediate seniors, some of my colleagues behaving with me well and at my back conspiring with the seniors against me, the boss threatening to put me in trouble, until I was transferred to Head Office in 2000.

Chief Ministers met in a conference on 16 November, 1999 under chairmanship of Jaswant Sinha, Union Finance Minister and decided to replace sales tax with VAT. Empowered Committee of state finance ministers was constituted in 2000 in pursuance of the decision of the CMs’ conference to coordinate among the states for smooth transition to VAT. The first chairman of the Empowered Committee (EC) was Dr Asim Dasgupta, finance minister, West Bengal. The commissioner, commercial taxes assigned me with VAT related work. I continued to work on VAT and also every aspect of reforms on indirect taxes, administrative restructuring, computerisation, etc in Head Office till I retired from government service in 2019. The original plan was to introduce VAT in all states in 2003. But except Haryana, no other state introduced VAT in 2003. Odisha along with twenty other states introduced VAT on 1^st April, 2005. The remaining states introduced by 2008.

In the budget speech for the FY 2006-07, Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram announced GST would be implemented from April 2010 replacing a plethora of central and state taxes. It was also decided to phase out Central Sales Tax from 4% to 3% in 2007, 3%to 2% in 2008 and be zero in 2010 coinciding with introduction of GST. Empowered Committee constituted for VAT implementation continued to coordinate among the states for smooth transition to GST. The Centre promised to compensate the states for loss of revenue on account of CST reduction. I continued to work in the Head Office to look after GST preparation in the state.

 The Centre and the states could not agree on many points and delayed its implementation. The delay was more political than anything else. The NDA government led by BJP had prepared almost everything for VAT implementation. NDA lost power to UPA in 2004. When UPA government led by Congress implemented VAT in 2005, the BJP ruled states opposed, and did not go with other states for it in 2005. The UPA took steps to implement GST, but BJP ruled states opposed it. Again NDA came to power in 2014 and wanted to go for GST, but Congress ruled states opposed and put obstacles for implementation. The NDA, though had majority in Loksabha, lacked required strength in Rajyasabha to pass the constitution amendment bill for GST.

In the mean time, the Empowered Committee continued to work for GST. The EC met regularly, it published the first discussion paper on GST in 2009, constituted committees to draft GST law. Though I was not enthusiastic as many other officers of our cadre, I got involved in preparation for GST implementation, attended the meetings of GST law drafting committee, wrote articles in newspapers explaining nuances of law, and participated in seminars, panel discussion in different TV channels.

 Uncertainty continued, sometimes I felt I could not see GST implemented before I retired. This was the feeling of many officers involved in drafting the law and GST related works in their states. After eleven years since P.Chidambaram announced in parliament, the government reached a consensus to go for GST on 1^st July, 2017. Some of us still could not believe. Sensing the mood of the officers, Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary, Revenue, GoI and member secretary, GST Council called a meeting of the officers on 18^th June, 2017 in the afternoon, after the 17^th GST Council meeting ended before lunch, and assured the officers, this time GST would be there on 1^st July and urged not to have any misgivings, and work sincerely in their respective states.

18^th GST Council met on 30^th June, 2017. It was a formal meeting without agenda of any importance. In a midnight joint session of parliament, in presence of President and Prime Minister, GST was to be launched. The meeting was at 3 PM. All the officers involved in the process were happy. The Prime Minister joined the dinner with members of GST Council and had group photographs with those involved in GST. 

We were taking dinner. An office assistant of GST Council met me and handed me a packet and said, “This is not given to all officers, but to a very few. So it is not handed over in the meeting. Revenue secretary told us to hand over personally if we know, or send by registered post.” I kept it and after dinner returned to Odisha Nivas.

I returned to Odisha Nivas and was relaxing. I remembered about the packet. I opened it and found it was the letter of appreciation issued by Revenue Secretary, GoI for my contribution to drafting the GST Law and leadership for implementation of GST in the state. I was happy, perhaps for the first time being an Odisha Finance Officer. I wanted to share my happiness, but I was alone in Delhi in that room of Odisha Nivas. The editor, Prameya telephoned, congratulated me on implementation of GST and said, “Come back, we shall have your interview for the newspaper.”

              1^st July is observed as GST Day

****

 

 

Story of Last Quarter of Twentieth Century

 

 

                                                            (Back cover of Head Office)

Ajay, Sanat and Gouranga are three friends. They have come from similar background, of lower middle class families. They have studied in village schools. Ajaya’s father is a petty businessman, Sanat’s father an agriculturalist and Gouranga’s father a primary school teacher. They have fully enjoyed freedom as students staying in hostels, merry making and playing pranks. Born within twelve to fifteen years of India getting independence and taught by the teachers born before independence, the three friends have a streak of idealism, dedication and commitment in them.

                                                (Dreams of the Kash Flower)

Kashatandira Swapna (Dreams of the Kash Flower) is the story of Ajay. Emergency is declared on the day Ajay’s Matriculation result is declared. On the first day of his college, on 1^st August, 1975, he is witness to police atrocities; the police forcibly cut hair of the students who have hippie and tear up the trousers of the girls who wear bell bottoms. A college professor is not spared. He does not have hippie, but long sideburns; police shorten his sideburns. The students are arrested on flimsy ground. Emergency excesses horrify him. He is a member of a leftist organisation, of its student wing, but he has to leave the organisation when the party supports Mrs Gandhi. He is more disillusioned when the Janata Party government led by Moraji Desai cannot complete its full term and Mrs Gandhi returns to power in 1980.

In his personal life Ajay has to fight many odds to set foot in the society. The greatest obstacle is his father; there is generational conflict between father and son, fight between tradition and modernity. The novel covers the period from 1975 to 1982-83.

Santosh Publications (Gajapati Nagar, Sutahat, Cuttack) has published the book in 2003.

                                                                  (Love has many hues) 

Prema Teeni Ranga (Love has many hues) is the story of Sanat. Sanat teaches History in the college where Madhavi is a student.

Madhavi is beautiful, talented and innocent. She is not good at studies, but is a talented dancer and poet. Her mother, brought up in middle class milieu, is apprehensive lest her beauty and talent lead her on the wrong path; bring bad name and misfortune to their family. The mother and the daughter fail to understand each other. Madhavi has to discontinue her dance. Her dance teacher considering combination of beauty, talent and innocence in her and middle class background of her parents, predicts that she has much suffering in life. 

Sanat finds her talented and falls in love with her. But he cannot express it to her, nor can Madhavi understand his feelings

Her parents give Madhavi in marriage to an engineer posted in New Delhi. After marriage, she discovers her husband is a debauch and a crook. He is already married and staying with his wife without the knowledge of his parents. He tortures her and forces her to engage in immoral act. Madhavi escapes from his clutches, but cannot go back to her parents.

The novel begins on the day Mrs Indira Gandhi is assassinated. The story is told against the background of those momentous events India has experienced during the years 1984-85 to 1994-95, such as assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi by her own bodyguards, commission of Sati in Deorala village, lowering of voting age to eighteen, assassination of Rajeev Gandhi, nationwide agitation against implementation of recommendation of Mandal Commission report, etc

Cuttack Students’ Store (Balubazaar, Cuttack) has published this novel in 2012.

 

                                                                   (Head Office)

The novel, Head Office is the story of Gouranga.

Gouranga, scion of a Khurda paik family whose forefathers had participated in the paik rebellion and fought with Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar against the Britishers, is an honest and upright officer. He has turned out to be a misfit in a corrupt organisation he has to work for. He joins Head Office after seven transfers in eleven years of his service career. His immediate boss in the head office happens to be the husband of his childhood crush. The head of the office has infatuation with a woman employee. Gourang falls in love with a lady officer who is already married. Brought up in a traditional and conservative milieu, she vacillates to come out of the wedlock. But Gourang again fails to fit into the corrupt system, and is transferred after a stint of one year eight months and fourteen days, his eighth transfer in twelve-thirteen years of service, but he has found his life partner.

The period of the novel is 1995-96 to 2000. Black Eagle Books, Dublin, USA/Bhubaneswar, India has published this novel in 2021.

The story of three friends, Ajay, Sanat and Gouranga covers the period from 1975 to 2000 and captures the time, spirit and events of the last quarter of twentieth century.

*****

 

“He is doing politics”

Prakash Babu comes with his wife everyday to the park for morning walk. Prakash Babu joins our group and his wife joins a group of women. After making five or six rounds on the circular walking/jogging path, we return to our homes and Prakash Babu and his wife also leave together for theirs.

Prakash Babu was in student politics, he was the elected president of the students’ union in his college. On completion of his graduation, he joined a bank and also got involved in union activities. He was all along an office bearer of the bank employees’ association and at the time of retirement, he was its general secretary. Post retirement, he has joined a political party.

Prakash Babu is a Mr Know All. Whatever subject you bring up, he must know the subject; you name a person, not so ordinary or a VIP, in some way or the other, he claims to have a kind of intimacy with the person or has close connection with him.

In course of discussion Amulya Babu said, “Yesterday I had been to a marriage reception, I saw the former chief secretary standing in a corner and eating, of course, two/three persons were with him to take care of him.” Prakash Babu quipped, “Former chief secretary, a nice gentleman! He used to come to our bank, he had an account with us. He sat before me and took tea that I offered him.”

Pati Babu was talking about congress politics. He discussed the untimely deaths of Rajesh Pilot and Madhav Rao Scindhia and observed, “Had Madhav Rao Scindhia been alive, there was a chance of power shifting from Gandhi family to outside in Congress. He, being a scion of the royal family, had an aura, besides, a charismatic leader and had an all India appeal.” Prkash Babu snapped, “Madhav Rao Scindhia hosted a dinner party every year in Gwalior when he was alive. He invited also the bank officers. I had attended his dinner twice during my posting in our bank’s Gwalior office.”

Jugal Babu moved the discussion towards literature. He quoted from the novel of a great Odia writer, a jnanapitha awardee and spoke about his writing style. Prakash Babu butted in to say, “His son is a banker and a great friend of mine. I often visited his res. I sat on the chair the great writer used to sit while writing those beautiful stories or novels.”

We do not have patience or any interest to cross check the veracity of what he says.

We were resting on the cement bench and chatting after we had finished our walk. Amulya Babu asked Prakash Babu in jest, “You have such a good physique and personality, the girls during your college time or in the initial years in the bank must be running after you.” Prakash Babu playing a smile on his lips added, “The time was different; I was young and was in love with a number of girls. You may not believe if I say the number.”

Prakash Babu’s wife was standing behind him; he had not noticed. Her group members had left for homes after the walk, she was waiting for Prakash Babu to return. Jugal Babu told his wife, “Bhauja, did you hear what Bhaina said?”

Prakash Babu looked back and saw his wife standing behind him. But he was unfazed. His wife said, smiling, “He is doing politics.”

*****

( The story in Odia was published in PRAMEYA on 21 June, 2020. Laxan's cartoons are downloaded from internet)

LATA, PRAMODA O ANYAMANE

PRAMODA:

I had to tour to Bhubaneswar, at least once a month, when I was in Rourkela during 1996-1999. I worked as officer of Investigation Unit in Rourkela Commercial Tax Office, and my job profile included to raid, which we called in a gentle language, ‘surprise visit’, the business houses suspected of evading taxes. I was called to Bhubaneswar to participate in centrally conducted raids, and also examine seized documents.

There were two routes then to come to Bhubanswar from Rourkela: one via Sambalpur; the road condition was better, though longer, and the other was through Lahunipara, Pallahada. I preferred the latter. It was a pleasure to travel by a jeep in the jungle route, from Lahunipara to Barakote and from Pallahada to Samal barrage, Talcher, the road coursed through jungles.

After Lahunipara and around twenty kilometres from Barakote, every time I passed, I noticed rush of eaters, the truckers and other travellers, at a road side dhaba managed by a lady. Our inspector ascribed the rush to the pretty looking lady. I just looked at the dhaba, never stopped there and had never seen the lady. We planned our journey in a way so that we always took tea at Barakote and our main meal of the day at Samal barrage; the fresh sweet water fish caught at the barrage cooked and served in those jhopdi hotels was really delicious.

One day, on our return journey from Bhubaneswar, after Barakoke and just two/three kilometres before the dhaba, the jeep I was travelling developed snag, the dynamo stopped functioning. It was an August evening and it was also drizzling. Without light the driver could not drive in the jungle road, though it was yet to be night; but the thick woods and the rain brought deep darkness. He tried to mend, but failed. The BDO, Lahunipara was returning from somewhere, he met us on the road. His driver drove his jeep slowly in front and we followed him till we reached the pretty lady’s dhaba. The driver again tried to sort out in the light of the electric bulb, but could not.

We did not have any other way except spending the night in that dhaba. I watched the lady working and instructing her boys. I was amazed at the grit and command of the lady managing a lonely dhaba in the midst of a forest. Later, the lady and my experience of the day, and night in the dhaba inspired me to write a story. The story was published in the annual special issue of Sambad under the caption, Pramoda Khudi (Promoda Aunty).

The story got good response and I had received a large number of letters of appreciation from different parts of Odisha. (That was the time prior to use of mobile phones, internet, WhatsApp or Facebook)

                                          (Letter of poet Ramakant Rath on the story)

LATA:

Jhankar, the prestigious literary magazine of Odisha had published in its Puja special issue of 2003 my story Tukuna, Lata Apa and Dustaloka (Tukuna, Lata Sister and the Mischievous Man). The story is about sex consciousness of a teenager (Tukuna); he is attracted to his elder cousin (Lata Apa) without being conscious, and turned forlorn after he has suddenly witnessed an intimate scene of Lata with her husband, estranged for a few months, but reunited in a marriage function.

I was working in the head office at Cuttack and sharing the room with a senior officer, K.N. Khatai. Mr Khatai had interest in literature; had dabbled with pen in his student days and also authored two books. He did not conceal his displeasure and minced no words in decrying the story as incestuous. But I received many letters of appreciation for the story. I showed him every day for some days, the letters I used to get, until he was completely silenced, though probably not convinced.

                    (Letter of Poet and Writer Nrusingha Tripathy on the story)

odiasahitya.com has published this story in 2011 and has sixteen comments. One reader has some reservations on the story, but the other fifteen have words of appreciation. (The link to the story is given below, ctrl+click to follow the link)

୨୧ଟୁକୁନା, ଲତାଅପା ଓ ଦୁଷ୍ଟଲୋକ

Santosh Publications, Sutahat, Cuttack has published the book, Lata, Pramoda O Anyamane (Lata, Pramoda and others) in 2007. 

    (Letter of appreciation of the book by Writer Ramachandra Behera)

The book, my fifth story collection, contains fourteen stories including the above two. Sashikant Rout has designed the cover. The book is priced at Rs.100/

*****

POLITICS

                                (NITIDIN had published this incident of my childhood)

I met Parvati after forty five years. I was a speaker in a literary function in Cuttack; she was in the audience.

I had become a communist by the time I was in Class X. One of my teachers was a leftist and he did not miss an opportunity to teach us his leftist ideas. I could not avoid hearing from him a lot on Marxism, Socialism, Russian Revolution, Mao’s long march. Inspired by him, I read the poetry of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Anant Patnaik, Rabi Singh, Brajanath Rath. Off and on, while discussing any subject with friends or others, I used the words like capitalists, bourgeoisie, proletariat, exploiter, exploited, class struggle, class war, revolution, etc. In the 1974 Assembly elections, CPI had fielded Dushasan Jena as a candidate from Barachana constituency. I campaigned for him in the villages near to our school. He was elected to the Assembly. (That was his first and last win in any election.)

A few days after he was declared elected, he, along with four/five Comrades, visited the constituency to thank the voters. It was a holiday. He came to the school and told me to accompany him to the villages where I had campaigned for him. There were neither cars nor any vehicles. We walked to the village. One of us went by a cycle to inform in advance the villagers about the MLA’s visit. The people spread a reed mat on the veranda of a villager. We sat on it. A few people who had not gone to the field, and were in the village at the time gathered and the MLA discussed with them on various issues like the weather, farming, and also their problems. They  served tea and offered paans. He took the tea and put the remaining one or two paans in his pocket after chewing one. Then we went to the next village.

In the third village that day a Comrade had arranged lunch for us in his home. The Comrade’s daughter, Parvati was in my class in the school.  She had, for some reason, discontinued her studies after Class IX. Parvati helped her mother in serving us a simple meal of rice, moong dal, fish curry, saag (spinach) and alloo bharta (mashed potato). The food was tasty. Parvati, clad in a saree, looked grown up and also beautiful.

After lunch I did not go further with the MLA and returned from there. The MLA would proceed to another village after taking rest and sleep the night with a  Comrade where it would be dark.  Parvati came to see me off. She said, “You have Board exam next year. Are you studying or wasting time with these vagabond communists?”

I was a good student in the school; I always stood first in the class exams. Parvati’s beautiful face and her sweet reproach were in my mind until I reached the school, in my room.

The voting in Odisha for the general elections, 2019 had been completed, but counting of votes were awaited. People discussed everywhere they gathered on elections, high expenses and its probable results. After the meeting was over I was taking my lunch arranged by the organisers of the meeting. Parvati came to me, introduced herself and her husband. She had not changed much physically and her voice and way of speaking remained almost unchanged. Participating in the discussion she said, “Now, there are road shows, mutton biriyani and alcohol for the party workers and unemployed youth, and bribing the voters the night before the day of voting. One cannot win the election unless one has money and muscle power. In fact, the people like you should have been in politics.”

I had not forgotten the lunch I had taken with the MLA in her house, and her sweet reproach forty five years back. But I could not tell her one of the reasons for which I left politics was her words of caution or reproach  that day.

*****

                    (This story was published in PRAMEYA  on 21st June,2010)