Some Friends And Other Visitors
While remembering the Sunday-morning get-together at our house in MacRobert Gunj, we had a quick look at some of Baba’s friends: the very slim and elegant Pankaj Kakababu, the tall and smoky P.K. Mittir Moshai, the delicate Professor of English literature Prabhat Kumar Ray in fine white panjabi and dhuti, the firebrand and headstrong Saurin Ghosh or our Ghosh saheb, and a very harmless and unassuming gentleman – our Master Moshai (he may have been a school-teacher sometime) Khitilal Ganguly, with whom I’ll start sketching a few portraits by way of coming back to our story.
I well remember Khitilal Master Moshai, his suntanned face with a broad and somewhat “embarrassed” smile. He smiled easily and had a look in his eyes, which made me think that he was on the point of telling something. But what? Nothing came. He wasn’t talkative in company, for example, he was a rather silent partner when they were playing bridge. However, with Baba he was different; he’d go and find him busy repairing something in a corner, and there were quick exchanges of smiles, of brief remarks followed by a jovial comment from Baba. 
They may have been talking about an English boss or an incident with some officer – their mutual understanding was a solid one. Master Moshai was assistant to our father in the department of chemicals in the Lal Imli Mill.
Sometimes his wife came to see Ma. We called her Kakima, a cheerful little lady with smiling eyes. Candid and unsophisticated she made no secret of her friendship for our family. In her speech you could hear accents of some eastern region of Bengal. There was an expression of such gratitude in her manners, which sometimes left me wondering.
Much later I came to know that Khitilal had been involved in the Armoury raid in Chattagram, had succeeded in escaping arrest, and had fled from East Bengal. How and through which contact he had come to Kanpur and to our Baba, is unknown to me. His adventure ended when Baba helped him get a job in his own service in the Mill as his assistant. Introduced by the chemical engineer himself and recommended by him, Khitilal’s political past remained unknown to the British superiors in the Lal Imli Mill.
I couldn’t have discovered all that while I was young as the subject was doubtlessly too sensitive to be part of common conversations. Master Moshai, working under Baba’s indulgent wing led a most harmless life until his retirement.
To be continued.
Visualization and Illustration: Surya Ranjan Shandil
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Didi, something more about mashtermoshai. I thought his face resembled that of Prez. Kennedy’s and he applied noshee (snuff) in his nose, which made his upper lip seem always smeared with that brown powdery thing. Once Debuda had got hold of his dibiya on the sly and given me some to try. Oh! I will never forget those violent sneezes, vowing never to indulge in such adventure. Mesdi.
Comment by Mesdi. December 31, 2007 @ 5:46 pm