The Two Warring Neighbours

Are you under an illusion that India and Pakistan are the best examples of neighbours who are sworn enemies right from their inception? Are you naïve enough to believe that Israel and Palestine are the living examples of how effectively neighbours screw up? Does China and Tibet come to you mind in any quiz contest when a question is posed about warring neighbours? If you answer these questions in the affirmative, then, I must admit, with great sympathy, my dear friend that you have indeed missed the golden opportunity of staying in a neighbourhood in which a “Bengali” and a “Jain” live next door to each other ;-) Nothing is more lethal, more gruesome and more entertaining than the verbal duel between a Jain and a Bengali!  The best part about the fight between a Jain and a Bengali is that it will never be violent, in the literal sense for the simple reason that the best weapon for a Bengali would be his eloquent speech intermixed with complicated words, proverbs and one-liners that a Jain would fail to understand to begin with!  On the other hand, non-violence is genetically embedded in a Jain! Ahimsha is the biggest dharma for a Jain! Why will a Jain cross the lakshman rekha of his dharma for a non-veg loving, bone chewing Bengali who cooks smelly fish in mustard oil with the sole intention of offending his saintly Jain neighbour?J So be assured, you can very well sit with popcorn in one hand and coke in another, sit back and enjoy the warring faction without harbouring the fear of getting caught in a cross-fire!

Being a half bong myself, I can go into the innermost recess of a Bengali mind to figure out his strategies and plan of action in this kind of battle! As I have the privilege of having many Jain friends and me being a strict vegetarian, I can very well understand the predicament of a devout Jain! I had the privilege of staying in such neighbourhood wherein a Bong and a Jain family were next door neighbours! I now realize how helpless United Nations might be feeling when it tries to intervene between two warring countries and realizes that it can do nothing about it L

This is how it all begin!  A bong family of 4, the Banerjees were staying on the 3^rd floor of my building for more than a decade!  The Banerjees were a typical middle class, literature and fish loving, highly educated Bengalis.  I always fail to understand that if a Bong is given a choice between a fish and a book, what will he be choosing?  Tough choice indeed! Mrs. Banerjee was proud of her IIM educated son, of her politically conscious husband who bore a serious and grim expression on his face 24X7, of her classic collections, of her daughter’s sonorous voice which woke the neighbours up at 5:00am when she practiced Rabindro sangeet and last but not the least of her culinary skills! Mrs. Banerjee firmly believed that no woman in the building could beat her in preparing macher jhol (fish curry), a Bengali fish preparation cooked in mustard oil! All was well in the Bong household until 5^th March, 2002! It was on this fateful day that the Jains moved into the flat situated adjacent to the Banerjees! Little did Mrs. Banajree know that destiny was going to put her through the toughest test of her life time! The test of defending her Bong pride! The test of justifying her love for fish! It was an emotionally challenging phase for the Banerjees as their in-built belief of Bong superiority in everything was challenged and shaken to the core by the Jains!

Now let me give a brief overview about the Jains!  The Jains were also a family of 4 (numerically equally in strength to the Banerjees).  They were Dingambar Jains who refrained from eating even onion and potato! Mr. Jain was a businessman who exceled in his money making skills whereas Mrs. Jain was a housewife who followed her religious duties fanatically! The two kids, one son and a daughter were still in the schooling phase and were totally into merry making mode to the extent their strict Jain mother permitted! 

The first thing that occurred to Mrs. Banerjee when the Jains moved in was the quick calculation of how the Banerjee’s score brownie points over the Jain’s in every aspect.  Mrs. Banerjee was gloating in self-satisfaction and thought of the Jains as harmless neighbours.  Like any Bengali, Mrs. Banerjee was, as usual, keen to show her literally collection to Mrs. Jain.  Therefore, on the very first day when the Jains moved in, Mrs. Banerjee invited for the evening tea.  Mrs. Banerjee even invited me and my mum. Being a Bong, I love reading and I love checking out what is the latest addition to her collection!  Little was I aware that I was going to witness one of the best arguments that I have ever witnessed until date! It was hilarious and entertaining, to say the least!  Mrs. Jain and Mrs. Banerjee were seated opposite each other whereas me and my mum were seated in between on the sofa.

When Mrs. Banerjee offered Mrs. Jain tea and homemade samosa, Mrs. Jain refused after raising an eyebrow and squeezing her nose. I missed a beat! This was blasphemy! What a wrong start! Refusing food that a Bong offers is the biggest way of insulting a Bong! I knew that the temper in the room would shoot up dramatically.  I instantly took my cup of tea and samosa and begin relishing, both the samosa as well the argument that followed ;-) This is the way it went:

Mrs. Banerjee said, with a stiff small smile, “Ahh Mrs. Jain, I see you have little liking for the samosas, though I fail to understand why! They are homemade very famous in the entire building. You can ask Mrs. Chakravarty. She can vouch for it”.  My food loving mother whose mouth was already stuffed with samosa simple looked at Mrs. Jain and nodded. On seeing my mother nodding in affirmation, Mrs. Banerjee gave the kindest look to my mom and even looked at me affectionately.   Mrs. Banerjee than continued “You could have tried it! It wouldn’t have done you any harm! In any case you look weak and famished! You Jains hardly eat! A Bong neighbourhood is god sent for you! You will relish my delicacies!”  Mrs. Banerjee said this and smiled in self-satisfaction.  Poor Mrs. Banerjee did not know what was coming.  Only I knew that Mrs. Banerjee had fired first round of bullet and the return fire would come anytime! Mrs. Jain immediately blurted, without even thinking the extent of damage her return fire would inflict on the delicate Bong ego!  Mrs. Jain said “God sent? You think Bengalis are God sent?  My daughter fainted today morning! She fainted because she could not tolerate the smell of fish being fried in mustard oil!  I had to burn incense and fragrant candles to reduce the extent of stink. Pardon me but your house reeks of the smell of mustard oil! No offence but I cannot eat anything at your house as you cook non-veg! You indulge in jeev-hatya on a daily basis! It’s a mortal sin for us Jains! We hold very strong values and are very soft hearted!”

I could see Mrs. Banerjee turning red faced! Mrs. Banerjee immediately retorted with her nostrils flaring: “Soft hearted? Strong values? Are you implying that we Bengalis are not soft hearted? Are you indicating that we do not have strong values? Come and see my library and you will see my classic collection and realize the extent of values we uphold!  Have you read Karl Marx? Have you read Oscar Wilde? Do you understand Geetanjali by Rabindra nath Tagore? Do you even read your own name? And you talk about values? You go to temple every day and you think that makes you bhaluable? No ways! Is your mind a cultivated by being subjected to the finer nuances of the literally world? Just because we eat non-veg we become non-human?

I was like…wow! Mrs. Jain just returned fire and Mrs. Banerjee launched a rocket! Eet ka jawab patthar se! But Mrs. Jain was not the one who was going to take things silently. She retorted back saying,

“Look, Mrs. Banerjee…no offense, but we practice what we preach!  We are pure! I did not understand half the things you said. And who was Karl Marx? Was he some Bengali Rishimuni? Who was Oscar Wilde? Did he allow Bengalis to eat non-veg? Who was Goethe? Did he permit Bengalis to use mustard oil? If your Maharajsaheb like Karl Marx and Goethe and Oscar Wilde are allowing you to eat non-veg, then I am sorry but our Maharaj Saheb are now allowing us to eat non-veg! They value life!

I blasted laughing on hearing Karl Marx was a rishi muni!  But it seems Mrs. Banerjee was under some kind of hypnotic Trans! She wanted to get even with Mrs. Jain and continued wither her verbal attack! This is what Mrs. Banjerjee said,

“Goodness Gracious Lord!  This lady does not know Karl Marx!  You say you value life? You do not read anything and you want me to accept that you value life? You do not value intelligence and you say you value life? What is a mark of a cultivated and cultured mind? Knowledge!!! Has any Jain every won noble prize? Did a Jain participate in freedom struggle? What do you know about the current affairs? And you say you value life! Pardon me but you have wasted your life by not reading a single book until date! I think you should eat fish so that your little Jain brain starts functioning!

Mrs. Jain, immediately interrupted and said…”What?? Eat fish? Commit Jeev Hatya? Are you out of your mind Mrs. Banerjee?  I have already lost face by taking a house next to a Bengali! And you want me to lose my dharma by eating fish? Just because it helps me increase my knowledge? Lose dharma and gain knowledge!  You are a sinner Mrs. Banerjee! All your books will not help you save your dharma!

This was the final straw! Mrs. Banerjee lost it! Nothing is more dangerous than a spurned Bengali woman!  How dare Mrs. Jain do this? In any event, in the esteemed opinion of Mrs. Banerjee, Mrs. Jain was a woman of limited intelligence!  In the middle of this verbal duel, I and my mom were busy relishing the samosas! It did not matter to us who won!   Mrs. Banerjee asked Mrs. Jain to leave her house immediately and told her while she was on the door “You lost your face by taking house next to me? You are so dumb…why did you take house next to me in the first place? Didn’t you realize that Banerjees are Bengalis? Why am I wasting my time by arguing with a woman who has got a peanut sized brain and who doesn’t even know who is Karl Marx!!?”

Mrs. Jain got red faced and while leaving the house blurted “I was just trying to show you the right path…the path of ahimsa and respect for life! I don’t know what is written in your fat books! I only know that you are on the wrong track and I will ensure that I teach you dharma as long as I stay here.  Lastly, please close all your windows while you cook your smelly fish”

Before Mrs. Banjeree could say anything further, Mrs. Jain shut the door.  My mother’s mouth was till stuffed with the Samosa and couldn’t say anything to calm Mrs. Banerjee down ;-)

This argument was just the beginning and one of the battles of the two warring neighbours!  There were numerous such battles! Mrs. Jain finally sold off her flat after a decade as she reached the breaking point and Mrs. Banerjee continued reading Karl Marx and entertaining her remaining neighbours with her mustard oil delicacies ;-) I am not sure whether Mrs.  Jain could ever teach Mrs. Banjerjee any of the Dharma, for Mrs. Banjerjee is still equally proud of her Macher Jhol (Fish curry) ;-)

A Sweet Encounter!

It is said that God or nature or destiny communicates with you through sings or symbols.  The sign may be in the form of a completely unplanned encounter. You might be in the middle of a seemingly stressful situation not knowing what to do or say next. You might be in the middle of mayhem and confusion. You might almost feel like a rudderless ship not knowing which direction to take in the unending expanse of life.  Just when you are about to start feeling hopeless, you might come across a person or witness an event or find yourself in a circumstances that might add an altogether fresh perspective to your life. These people or event or circumstances might be unusually ordinary in nature.  However, if you have a keen sense of awareness, you might just realise that the people or circumstances or event were not as ordinary as they appeared to be. On the contrary, you encounter them precisely at the right moment when you are supposed to take the right lead and learn the right lesson!

This realization dawned on me when while I was travelling from London to Manchester to catch a flight for India.  It was my first trip to UK.  This trip to UK was disillusioning at many levels.  While I must admit that I do have many wonderful memories of this short visit, yet, at a certain level I realized that a lot of my assumptions about life in a western country were unfounded. I was fundamentally disillusioned by the people in the sense that I found them highly individualistic.  I found that the elders were often left to fend for themselves, that there was a very strong sense of disconnect between people of different generations.  The younger generation often ignored their elderly counterparts as soon as they entered into their teens. A lot of new parents often looked at their young kids as liabilities!  On the surface, everything was very beautiful with material comforts at its glorious best! However, scratch the surface and the ugly face of self-centeredness projected itself in its full glory! On the last day of my trip, while I was returning, I was almost feeling suffocated with the self-centeredness.  I once harboured a dream of settling down in abroad. Before boarding the train for Manchester, I almost concluded that my dream was formed on unfounded presumptions about life being a replica of heaven being a combination of material comforts and emotional security. I almost thanked providence for allowing my life to run an alternate course. While these thoughts were running at the back of my mind, I was simultaneously trying to locate my seat. I was kind of disappointed that I did not get the window seat as I was really keen not to miss the beautiful London country sight. 

Just when I was about to settle down on my seat, I heard a woman who boarded the train after me, calling me randomly and informing that I could take any seat I liked as the train was half empty.  I turned around to check out who this stranger was who was forthcoming with this good piece of information and who was sounding so cheerful and lively early in the morning when the rest of the passengers were in a typical UK “live me alone” mode.  One look at her and I figured out she was an Asian, though I was not sure of her origin, UK, in any event, being a collage of different races of the world.  This lady once again flashed a broad smile at me and not only asked me to take a window seat, but also a seat that had a sliding table and charging facility.  She appeared to be in a fully enthusiastic and chirpy mode and seated herself bang opposite myself! Frankly, to start with, as I wasn’t expecting anybody to talk to me, I was kind of confused when she started conversing with me! This is something that very rarely happens in a country like UK! She had a very sweet and disarming smile! She had a lot to talk about! She had a lot to teach me! May be she was god sent for the simple reason that she was one of the most selfless person that I encountered in my trip and I must admit that she actually added a lot of fresh perspective to my views about life in a western country. 

To give you a brief snap short of this lady, she was a Filipino who was settled in UK for more than a decade.  Her name was Teresa Fernandes and she worked as a chef in one of the restaurants in London.

Before starting the conversation, she offered me her breakfast. This was even before knowing who I was or where I was heading to! When I politely refused, she insisted once again! When I refused again she frankly asked me whether I was scared of eating anything offered by a stranger ;-).  I had to convince her that was not the case.  One thing that really impressed me about Teresa was the fact that she considered herself as a very lucky and a blessed woman! Now, on the surface of it, one would consider that she had all the reasons in the world to think that way! But scratch the surface and you might find a different realty all together! The reason why Teresa considered herself blessed was because she believed on counting on her blessings rather than cribbing about the many ugly faces that life showed her at various stages of her life!

When Teresa was 7 year old, back in Philippines her father left her mother to marry another woman.  Teresa’s mother had a very big family to support as they were more than 7 to 8 siblings! Teresa’s mother did not have the time and energy to sit back and cry as she had the responsibility to raise her family single-handedly! She worked hard! Very hard indeed! She worked on the family farm and little Teresa helped her mother in the farms. Teresa informed me that life in the farm was very difficult and laborious, to say the least! However, she enjoyed farming and helping her mother! In order to improve her family’s lot, Teresa decided to emigrate at the young of 14! She emigrated thousands of miles away from her family and worked in an embassy in Greece! Post working in Greece, she moved to France for a while and then finally to UK.  Life certainly was not a bed of roses for her as she not only had to establish herself in UK but also had the responsibility to take care of her entire family in Philippines as she was the sole bread winner now. She had an ailing mother to take care off; she was responsible for ensuring that her young siblings get quality education. She had to get her brothers married and settled off financially, get her house in Philippines repaired and restored, buy new farms for her brothers and what not! 

She did all this single handily! And yet here she was, sitting opposite me, smiling and cheerful, without any complain! She could have complained about a lot of things! She could have had grudges against her father who left her in a lurch and never loved her! She could have complained about not having been given the chance to complete her education! She could have complained about all those men in her love life who failed her and broke her heart and left her to fend for herself! She could have complained about having to single handily bear the financial responsibilities of such a large family! She could have complained about not having the chance to get married and settled down! Yet here she was! A strong and cheerful woman! Who was constantly considering herself as blessed for having a wonderful mother who loved her unconditionally! For having given the chance to improve her lot and the lot of her family by getting a stable job in London! For having given the chance to help her siblings and see them progress in life! For have given the strength to bear the loss of her two siblings! For having two nephews, who treated her like their mothers, and called her “mummy”.    

I asked her if she had any regrets in life! She paused for a moment and said “Nopes”.  She then said that the only regret that she had was that she couldn’t become a mother. But her two nephews certainly were like her very own children and she turned to them whenever she missed having a child of her own!

Now this, in my view, is truly beautiful woman! She is beautiful from within! This blog is a tribute to you Terri! I just want you to know how wonderful you are as a person! Frankly, you are a blessing to your family and everyone you meet for you teach us the virtue of selflessness!

This sweet encounter was one of the best things that happened to me in my trip to UK. It taught me that it is not the country that makes you individualistic and self-centred! You can be thousands of miles away from your family, in the middle of highly individualistic crowd, and yet you may retain your selflessness! It is up to you! You have the choice to make!  The choice to consider yourself as blessed by counting on the blessings of your life or the choice to think of yourself as cursed by providence by always focusing on what is wrong with your life!

Hope you make the choice that Terri made!  J

THE TOUGH CHOICE

I more often than not presumed that the different phases of my life would evolve and flow peacefully like a silent river, the one without any whirlpool, the one without any strong currents.  At sub-conscious level, I failed to understand the reason for this presumption.  At the conscious level though, the reasons were quiet obvious. Being born in a typical middle class Indian family in Mumbai, where parental support forms the bedrock of one’s very existence, I never made a conscious effort to analyze the nature of my relationship with my parents, especially my mother.  As any other kid born with my background, my life was scripted and I played the part.  I never imagined that the script would have twists and turns; that the script would have drama, the script would force me to make choices, the script would have moments entwined with a deep sense of joy and sorrow at the same time, a deep sense of gratitude and loss in the same breath. I never imagined that my mother would end up being the protagonist of the script of my life.  This story is only a weak attempt at verbalizing the deep sense of gratitude that I have for my mother. For I know that I cannot avoid the twists and turns and the highs and lows of the script, but I can, without doubt, avoid the doubts of the script going awry, thanks to the very presence of my mother.

It was the time of my wedding.  The time which was supposed to be joyous, time of merrymaking, of fun, of laughter, of getting exhausted in making preparations and at the same time relishing the very fact of getting exhausted. Knowing my temperament, when I did decide to get married, my mother was more relieved rather than being happy. The sense of relief was short lived, in a good sense as every waking moment of her life for a year preceding my marriage was spent in thinking, planning and preparing for my wedding. Every morning the breakfast time was spent in discussing the guest list, of who all will be invited, who all will not be invited and the reason why she/he will not have the honour of being invited in the wedding of the year J  As the D day was nearing, every free day was spent inundating every square inch of free space of my house with shopping bags! In the midst of the preparation, little did I anticipate that we as a family in general and my mother in particular were going to face the biggest test of our life. The clothes were stitched, the hall was booked, the cards were sent out and we were about to start practicing for the pre-wedding songs and dances.  The countdown had begun. All that we were anticipating for the next twenty days was fun, music, food, dance, laughter, tears of joy and celebration.

However, this was not meant to be! Life and relationship is what happens to you when you are busy planning for something else! Just twenty days before my wedding, my maternal uncle, being the eldest brother of my mother and whom she was very close to fell sick.  With the initial diagnosis we all thought that it was jaundice and that my uncle would quickly recover. However, when the condition of my uncle did not improve, it sort of ringed an alarm bell. My uncle was subjected to a number of tests.  None of us in general and my mother in particular had the strength of knowing the outcome of these tests.  He was diagnosed with gastro intestinal cancer of stage 4D; a stage from which there is no reversal, no return. It was hard, for the lack of a better word, for us to digest that something of this nature was happening. It couldn’t have happened! How could the script take such a tragic twist? In the middle of the wedding drums, we were not prepared to listen to the death knell! I was broken and shattered from within. As per Hindu customs, as the cards were sent out, it was not feasible to postpone the wedding.  I was worried about my mother.  To give you a sense of the depth of her sentiments, she cries when she sees an emotional movie, she cries on hearing anybody’s pains.  My mother had to pray.  But she was clueless about what she was praying for.  My uncle’s death was inevitable. It was a foregone conclusion.  The only thing that was not foregone was the timing of his last moments.  When would it happen? Will it happen a week before my wedding? Will it happen on the wedding day? Will he die immediately after my wedding? Can we do anything to change our immediate destiny? Can we do anything to control it? If not, what should we do? In light of this, my mother was faced with a tough choice? Should she be praying for her brother’s peaceful and pain free death so as to reduce his pain? Alternately, should she be praying for the longevity of his life by a couple of days just to ensure that her daughter’s wedding passes off without any event? If she prays for the latter, will she not be a cause of her brother’s unbearable pain? If she prays for the former, will she not be a cause for the most important event of her daughter’s life going down the drain? In the midst of all this, she was just progressing mechanically.  Little did she know that she did not even have the choice to pray either ways!  The only choice that she had and which she did exercise was the choice to be happy, the choice to pretend that everything was normal, the choice to indicate that she was in control of her own self and consequently the situation.  Just one day before my wedding, we had an engagement ceremony.  

I was getting ready in the parlor when I received call from my cousin.  I missed my beat.  The only sentence that my cousin told me was that I will have to be strong. There was no need for him to say anything else for I knew what happened. Silent tears started trickling down my face.  I did not have the guts to face my mother! I felt selfish! I felt guilty of the fact that I was celebrating. I felt guilty of my very existence for my mother could not mourn because of me.  When I met my mother after getting ready, to my very surprise, she was smiling.  I assumed that she might not be aware of my uncle’s death.  I assumed that knowing her, my family members might have refrained from telling her. I therefore did not tell my mother that I am aware of everything for I wanted her to enjoy my engagement ceremony.  My mother was in complete control of the situation.  She was taking stock of everything! She was welcoming the guests with a smile on her face, she was supervising the ceremonies, and she was dancing with us at regular intervals.  In the midst of all this, I did notice that she use to disappear at regular intervals. However, being the bride, I failed to realize the reason for her disappearance. Almost at the end when the function was about to get over, I overheard my mother telling she would leave for the funeral.  I was shocked about the fact that she was aware about the tragedy.  If she was aware about it, why did she not tell me? Why did she choose to remain silent? On the contrary, why did she proactively participate in the engagement function? The biggest question that started haunting my mind was that how did she has the strength to face this?

I was taken back home by my father.  I couldn’t sleep as I was waiting for my mother to return.  The only questioned that I asked her was that “You were aware about it?”  She did not say anything and simply hugged me.  Thereafter, she only replied, “I cannot reverse what happened; it was not in my control. It was not the choice that I was given.  The only choice that I gave myself was the choice to ensure that the biggest day in your life is not overshadowed by my sense of loss and pain. For the only balm for me which lessened my pain and gave me the strength to face the situation was your smile” I was at a loss of words on hearing this. Once again I was assured of the fact that that I cannot avoid the twists and turns and the highs and lows of the script of my life, but I can, without doubt, avoid the doubts of the script going awry, thanks to the very presence of my mother. 

I LOVE YOU MOM!

Do you Know Rubin?

I cannot really figure out the reason why, but I am having a strong urge to share this funny (well….not so funny at the time when it occurred….in fact, it positively got the wind out of my lungs ;-)) story which occurred long time ago.  The characters of this story are very much real, the incident is not fictional, and it is completely true ;-)  However, out of the fear of being taken to task by the friends who are involved, I have used fictitious names while narrating this incident J

Almost a decade back, I was studying in Law College and simultaneously interning at a boutique corporate law firm, which was boutique in every sense.  Like all the interns, who ventures with high hopes in the law firm domain and then quickly does a crash landing, my life was as interesting as a life of intern could be; for crash landing was an everyday affair! I started off this particular day completely anticipating that this was going to be just another day in which I will be spending time reading and taking photo copies of voluminous documents.  Little did I know that by the time it would be evening, my life would become an interesting chapter straight out of Sherlock Holmes stories! At around 4:00 p.m. on that day, I was in the middle of reading a boring case law.  While I was desultorily turning the pages of the never ending case law, I got a call from an unknown person from unknown number.  I answered the call half expecting that this call from a mysterious lady will take me on a roller coaster ride for the next ten days.  This is the way the conversation went:

Myself:  “Hello, whose this?”

Mysterious Lady:  Ahh…is this the right time to speak? I want to ask you some very important questions and would like to know something very private and confidential.

Myself:  What? Important questions? What sort of important questions would you like to ask me? Hang on! Who are you? Why are you sounding so scared?

Mysterious Lady:  I am sorry I cannot reveal my name. But I will be immensely grateful if you could just give me information about this one particular person.

The statement from the mysterious lady jolted me back to reality.  Millions of thoughts started running in my mind simultaneously.  The first thought was about what kind of information on earth I possessed at this early stage in my law firm career that this lady was so desperate to seek. What the hell is happening? I must admit that a ting of fear was running down my spine but at the same time the womanly curiosity was pushing me to prod further.  So this is the way the conversation went further.

Myself: Ahh…this is strange….i do not know how safe it is for me to speak to you. But I would still like to know what exactly you would like to know that I still do not know that I know about!

Mysterious Lady:  Don’t worry.  I am the one at the receiving end right now! I am in big trouble.  I just want to know what you think about Rubin! What kind of person is Rubin?

Rubin!  Millions of thoughts were playing football in my mind! What the hell! Rubin! So this is what it is all about.  Hang on….jus to give you guys a brief background, Rubin was a very good friend of mine.  We were in the same class and use to often hang around together.  He was a typical happy go lucky guy who ate a lot and swore a lot! What harm could he possibly do to any one? I never imagine myself getting a mysterious call from a mysterious lady because of the happy go lucky hyper active Rubin. However, at the same time, I started thinking whether there was something about Rubin that I did not know about? Did he have a darker side? Was he into drugs? Did he fool around with a junior chick? My mind was racing widely in all possible directions. I decided to prod further.

Myself:  Well….ah…yeah…I do know Rubin….but I am confused…why are you asking me about him? And what do you want to know? Firstly, please tell me who you are!

Mysterious Lady:  Please….please…please….tell me everything that you know about him.  Believe me, this is important.  Please tell me what kind of person is he.

Myself:  Well….he is a friend…and he is a nice person…if this helps or makes you feel better!  I cannot tell you more until and unless you tell me who you are!

Mysterious Lady: Nice person? Is he a nice person?

 Myself:  So you would like to hear from me that he is not a nice person? 

Mysterious Lady:  Are you sure he is a nice person?

Myself:  Are you sure you want to know things about RUBIN?

Mysterious Lady: Yes! Yes! But how can he be a nice person….you are being biased…or partial….may be because he is your friend…you have no idea what I am going through.

Myself: Why don’t you tell me what are you going through?  Hang on…why don’t you tell me who you are? May be I might be able to help you with this!  Did Rubin hurt you? Did Rubin hurt your daughter?  Are you somebody’s mother from my college? Please al least tell me something.

Mysterious Lady:  Well…..i am sorry…it is not safe for me to talk too much of phone…..ahhh…can you meet me? Please can you meet me…I will tell you everything once I meet you.

SHIT!  Now a strong chill ran down my spine! How could I meet her? She was  an absolute stranger! What on earth had Rubin done to this lady or to her daughter or to god knows whom!  At the same time, curiosity was getting the better of me! I just wanted to get to the bottom of the matter!  Weighing all the risk, I decided to meet her. This is the way the conversation went further.

Myself:  Okay.  Fine! But atleast tell me your name! How will I recognize you? 

Mysterious Lady:  Do not worry.  I will wear a BLUE SAREE AND CARRY A PINK WATER BOTTLE!

Myself: BLUE SAREE! PINK WATER BOTTLE!  FINE!  But I would like to meet you at a public place.

 Myself: How does Café Cola on linking road at Bandra West suit you?

Mysterious Lady: See you tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.

She said that and off went the line.  My heart starting thudding violently! For some time I just couldn’t think clearly! I immediately called up Rubin and started talking to him in all seriousness.

I asked him, “Rubin…..please be honest with me….are you sure you are not on drugs?

Rubin: Drugs? What is wrong with you? Hell no!

Myself: Are you sure you are not fooling around with some new hot underaged chick?

Rubin:  Why are you asking me these questions?  What is wrong with you?

Myself:  I should be asking you this? What is wrong with you! I get call from mysterious people who are trying to extract information about you because you have got your hands full in some god forsaken stuff which you aren’t telling me.

Rubin was taken aback.  I narrated the entire conversation.  He sounded like a deflated balloon at the end of the conversation when he was repeatedly swearing that he has done nothing wrong!  I told him that in any event I would go and meet this lady as I wanted to know the truth.  Rubin, being the good friend that he was, tried convincing me out of it  by citing various scenarios of how it could turn ugly and unsafe. Realizing that I would not relent, he finally conceded on the condition that I would be accompanied by another friend PARIMAL.  The game plan that we made was that Parimal would accompany me in the café.  However, he would sit a couple of seats away from me on the next table.  I was happy and satisfied with this plan.  Believe me, the enthusiasm of Sherlock Holmes was running in my vein. 

I had to share my excitement with someone.  God gifted me the opportunity to play Sherlock homes.  However, I have not been gifted with the virtue of discretion! Out of the blue, I called up my college Principle and narrated the whole incident to him.  My college principle took it on a different tangent all together!  He got all excited and took the focus off from RUBIN and bought it on himself!  He said….”Esha, I think this is a work of some investigative journalist!  They actually want information about me! Not RUBIN!” He further said…people are jealous of me and want to ruin my name in the press” I was flabbergasted.  How on earth could he draw this link? They mysterious lady was repeatedly asked me about Rubin! Not even once did she mention my principle!   I completely forgot the fact that my principle was gifted with the divine quality of linking any and all event of this world to him.  I realized that calling the college principle was a big mistake and that my principle would ruin this big adventure.  I cut the conversation short and hung up.

As per Rubin’s plan, I called up Parimal, the guy who would provide me with cover fire in case things would go out of hand!  To give you a background, Parimal was a loud mouthed junior who participated in every national and international completion without reading a single judgment.  He was an overconfident, careless, carefree young chap….to say the least! I failed to understand why Rubin selected him off all the people.  I called up Parimal and planned out the finer details of my meeting tomorrow. 

I couldn’t sleep that night as I just couldn’t wait the morning to happen.  Little did I know that my role as Sherlock Holmes ended the moment I called Parimal! Next day, I called that lady during lunch just to confirm the schedule of our meeting.  The lady refused to answer my calls! I was taken aback! Positively disappointed! What the hell! Why is she ruining it?  As I called repeatedly, the mysterious lady answered the call and simply said…”I am sorry I cannot meet you” and then off went the line!   I immediately called up Rubin and gave him the bad news!  To my surprise, Rubin was relieved.  I called Parimal and told him that the plan was off!!  Parimal sounded disappointed!  He told me that he was very excited and that he told his mother about this meeting! I hung up after chatting with Parimal for a while and went on with my routine work in the boutique law firm.

After a week days, I called up Parimal at his residential number as I wanted him to return the books that he had borrowed from me.  Parimal’s grandma answered the call.  She was a sweet old lady who started off with a typical grandmotherly conversation.  She repeatedly insisted that I should come home and meet her.  I said I will certainly do that!  At the end of the conversation, she asked me “ACCHA BETA….DO YOU KNOW RUBIN?’ WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIM? HOW DO YOU FIND HIM”.

These questions immediately ringed the bell! The same questions which the mysterious lady asked!  I could kind of connect the dots.  I hurriedly answered her questions and hung up! I immediately called up Rubin and informed him that the “MYSTERIOUS LADY” AND “PARIMAL’S GRANDMOTHER” are asking the same set of questions.  There certainly was a connection between the “MYSTERIOUS LADY” and “PARIMAL’s GRANDMOTHER”

Rubin processed the information and hung up!  He then called me after two days to sort the mystery about the Mysterious Women! This MYSTERIOUS WOMEN was no one else but PARIMAL’S MOTHER.  Rubin told me that he went to Parimal’s house after having a conversation with me.  He said that he went with some friends to get this straight.  He introduced himself to Parimal’s mother and grandmother and asked them if they had any problem!  Parimal’s mother finally blurted out the truth that she was the Mysterious Women! She wanted to have information about Rubin as Parimal asked her to sponsor and finance various college events under the pretext that Rubin had asked for it.  She further blurted out that she had given 50,000 rupees to Parimal until date as Parimal said that it was necessary as per Rubin (who happened) to be a college committee secretary!  She further said that she had a strong suspicion that Rubin was defrauding her innocent little son by repeatedly demanding money! Rubin cleared all her doubts by asking other friends to vouch for him!  He further told her that instead of creating this mystery, she could have asked him directly in the first place!

WELL….RUBIN WAS RIGHT…BUT WHAT ABOUT MY DISAPPOINTMENT? MY ONLY CHANCE OF PLAYING DECTITIVE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE WENT OUT OF THE WINDOW! In the hindsight…it was indeed comical…Parimal was going to accompany me to meet his “Mysterious Mother”  No wonder his mother refused to meet me when I called her the next day.  The fool Parimal is also not gifted with the art of discretion.  He had proudly told his mother that he would be accompanying me to meet a “MYSTERIOUS LADY IN BLUE SAREE WITH PINK BOTTLE” No wonder his mother backed out!  She would have cursed me for revealing this to her son J

In the hindsight we laugh about this incident, nevertheless with regret that I could never get the chance to play Sherlock Holmes.  J

Frivolous litigations by State Governments!

It appears, at times that the treasury of various State Government is filled to the brim! One is not surprised at the inclination of various State Governments to spend common man’s money on fruitless litigation. The Supreme Court of our country has, time and again denounced the practice adopted various State Government of filing appeals as a matter of course.  In the case of State of Uttarkhand  & Ors v. Kanhya Lal [2014] INSC 244 (29 April 2014), the Supreme Court reprimanded the State Government of Uttarkhand in pursuing a frivolous litigation. 

What are the facts of this case?

In this case, a teacher named Kanhya Lal applied for the post of Assistant Teacher (Language) L.T. Grade in the government school in the State of Uttarkhand. In this regard, the State Government had issued an advertisement seeking applications for this post. Further, the first advertisement clearly indicated the last date for submission of Application to be 21st November, 1997, which was advanced and preponed to 10th November, 1997 in terms of a correction issued on 24th October, 1997. The only infirmity in the Application of Mr. Kanhyalal was that he had failed to include his Marksheet along with his Application Form, which was submitted by him on 4.11.1997.  He had made full compliance by personally filing his Marksheet on 12.11.1997. The State Government, instead of keeping in perspective the fact that a corrigendum has been issued preponing the last date of submission of Forms from 21.11.1997 to 10.11.1997, and instead of being fair and flexible, rejected the application of Mr. Kanhyalal and instead selected another applicant  whose quality points were much lower in comparison to Mr. Kanhyalal.

What action did Mr. Kanhyalal take to fight this injustice?

Mr Kanhyalal was rightly disturbed by the situation that the last appointed candidate had 55.6 quality points whereas he possessed much higher merit, i.e. 58.4 quality points. He therefore filed a writ petition in the High Court of Uttarkhand at Nanital.

How did the case proceed?

The Single Judge of the Uttarkhand High Court upheld the petition of Mr. Kanhyalal.  After going into the factual matrix of the case, the learned Single Judge had directed by Order dated 10.3.2008 that the case of Mr. Kanhyalal should be considered within three months for appointment to the post of Assistant Teacher (Language) L.T. Grade, if there is no other impediment in his selection . The State Government filed an appeal against the decision of the Single Judge.  However, the order of the Single Judge was affirmed by the Division Bench of the Uttarkhand High Court. Being aggrieved by the decision of the Division Bench of the Uttarkhand High Court, the State Government filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court.

How did the matter proceed before the Supreme Court?

The State Government of Uttarkhand did not challenge the appointment per se.  The only grievance of the State Government was that Mr. Kanhyalal cannot claim appointment from back date i.e., from 1997.  After reading the documents filed before the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court formed the view that the action of the Additional Director, Education of the State Government of Uttarkhand amounted to contempt of Court.  This is because the State Government had simply not disclosed any other impediment in the appointment of Mr. Kanhyalal as directed by the High Court. The State Government had, on the contrary, repeated the same facts, which had not found favour before the High Court. The Supreme Court observed that “It is palpably clear that the Additional Director of Education, Garwal Division, Pauri, has contumaciously adorned itself with appellate powers over the decision of the learned Single Judge of the High Court”.

What were the special observations of the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court made the following observation which is worth taking a note of:

“In this case, the writ petitioner is a Teacher and it is unfair to him to be repeatedly drawn into fighting futile, if not frivolous litigation by the State. It has become the practice of the State to carry on filing appeals even where the case does not deserve it, knowing fully well that private respondents will be physically fatigued and economically emasculated in pursuing protracted litigation”.

What was the ruling of the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court directed the State Government of Uttarkhand  to appoint Mr. Knahyalal the post of Assistant Teacher (Language) L.T. Grade, i.e. the advertised post, treating him to have been appointed along with the other candidates who were selected in response to the subject advertisement for appointment to the post of Assistant Teacher (Language) L.T. Grade.  The Supreme Court further held that the seniority of Mr. Kanhyalal shall be fixed such that it is not detrimental to the services already rendered by him.

Are long drawn litigation processes considered as a mitigating factors while awarding sentence?

I am not being original when I say that litigation in India is a mentally draining experience, both for the accused and the victim.   For the accused, the psychological trauma of undergoing numerous years of never ending litigation is the biggest punishment.  Whilst the final judgment is being awarded there is always an apprehension in the mind of the accused whether the mental torture suffered in the long drawn litigation process will act as one of the mitigating factors by the Supreme Court while awarding judgment.

There is no straight jacket formula which is applied by the Hon’ble Supreme Court while awarding sentence.  Below is one interesting case  (V.K. VERMA v. CBI [2014] INSC 96 (14 February 2014) which sheds light on the rationale adopted by the Supreme Court while awarding sentence.

What is this case all about?

The accused in this case was tried under the Indian Penal Code as well as the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.  The charge was that the accused demanded and accepted bribe of Rs.265/- from a contractor. According to the accused, the contractor had an axe to grind since the accused did not budge to his demand for improper measurement of the work done by him and he was actually trapped at his instance. FIR was registered on 21.12.1984. The sessions court convicted him of the charges and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one and a half years with a fine of Rs.5,000/- each under the charged Sections, as per Judgment dated 10.04.2003.

What happened thereafter?

The accused approached the High Court.  However, the High Court declined to interfere with the conviction and sentence and dismissed the appeal.  The accused therefore approached the Supreme Court.

What factors did Supreme Court take into consideration?

It was noted by the Supreme Court that it took ten years for the matter to be registered as sessions case and stranger is it to see that the trial also took almost ten years and still stranger is that the matter took ten years in the High Court.

Pursuant to dismissal of the appeal before the High Court, the appellant surrendered before the Special Judge on 03.10.2003 and he was sent to custody. On 28.10.2013, the Supreme Court issued notice limited to the quantum of sentence. Thereafter, by Order dated 16.12.2013, the appellant was enlarged on bail.

In imposing a punishment, the concern of the court is with the nature of the act viewed as a crime or breach of the law. The maximum sentence or fine provided in law is an indicator on the gravity of the act. Having regard to the nature and mode of commission of an offence by a person and the mitigating factors, if any, the court has to take a decision as to whether the charge established falls short of the maximum gravity indicated in the statute, and if so, to what extent.

Did the Supreme Court factored in the long delay while awarding the sentence?

It was observed by the Supreme Court that the long delay before the courts in taking a final decision with regard to the guilt or otherwise of the accused is one of the mitigating factors for the superior courts to take into consideration while taking a decision on the quantum of sentence.

How did the foregoing principle affect the case under discussion?

The Supreme Court took into consideration that the FIR was registered by the CBI in 1984. The matter came before the sessions court only in 1994. The Session’s court took almost ten years to conclude the trial and pronounce the judgment. Before the High Court, it took another ten years. Thus, it is a litigation of almost three decades in a simple trap case and that too involving a petty amount.

The Supreme Court took into consideration that the accused was 76 years of age at the stage of filing the appeal. The Supreme Court was also informed that he the accused was in not in good health, having had also cardio vascular problems. The offence was of the year 1984. It is almost three decades now. The accused has already undergone physical incarceration for three months and mental incarceration for about thirty years. The Supreme Court therefore allowed the appeal on the grounds that at that age and stage, it would not be economically wasteful, and a liability to the State to keep the appellant in prison. Having given thoughtful consideration to all the aspects of the matter, the Supreme Court opined that the facts mentioned above would certainly be special reasons for reducing the substantive sentence but enhancing the fine, while maintaining the conviction.

The substantive sentence of imprisonment was reduced to the period already undergone. However, an amount of Rs.50,000/- was imposed as fine.

Is the punishment proportional to the severity of the crime?

This article, in the form of an FAQ, is an attempt at explaining the legal principle upheld by the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Ishwar Chandra Jayswal V the Union of India in [2014] INSC 3 simplest possible terms.  

1.    .What is the fact of this case?

Mr. Ishwar Chandra was an officer with the Indian Railways. He was dismissed from the service as he was found taking bribes.  Three articles of charges were framed against him. Article-I was that he demanded and accepted a sum of Rs.26/- from Shri Pyare Ram, Khalasi for issuing in his favour a Fit Certificate.

Article-II, in similar vein was that the Appellant demanded and accepted a sum of Rs.34/- from Shri Nandlal, Semi-skilled Revetter for issuing him a Fit Certificate. Article-III was that he had demanded and accepted Rs.18/- from Shri Balroop, Semi-skilled Revetter for issuing of Fit Certificate.  All the charges against Mr. Ishwar were proved after the completion of the enquiry. The disciplinary committee, after considering the response of Mr. Ishwar, levied penalty on him and removed him from the services.

2.    How did the case proceed?

Mr. Ishwar filed a revision application with the division bench of the Allahabad High Court.  The High Court came to the same conclusion as the disciplinary committee and did not reverse the decision of the disciplinary committee. Mr. Ishwar therefore approached the Supreme Court against the decision of the High Court.

3.    On what grounds did Mr. Ishwar approached the Supreme Court?

Mr. Ishwar’s case was based on the premises whether the punishment of removal of service of Mr. Ishwar on the alleged demand of meagre amount of Rs.18-45 is contrary to the doctrine of proportionality. 

4.    What is the doctrine of proportionality?

The doctrine of proportionality deals with the balancing test. In simple terms, it is against excessive punishment in comparison of the degree of crime committed. To clarify, the degree of punishment should be proportional to the nature of crime.

5.    What verdict did the Supreme Court give?

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal of Mr. Ishwar. The Supreme Court held that it is a settled principle that in all circumstances, the punishment imposed on the delinquent workman or officer, must be commensurate with the Articles of Charge levelled against him.

The Supreme Court considered the fact that Mr. Ishwar was  75 years of age at the stage of the hearing of the appeal.. At the time when the Articles of Charge had been served upon him, he had already given the best part of his life to the service of the -Indian Railways. Furhter, Part III of The Railway Servants (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1968 contains the penalties that can be imposed against a Railway servant, both Minor Penalties as well as Major Penalties. The Supreme Court further observed that it was not established that Mr.Ishwar had, as a matter of habit or on a wide scale, made illegal demands from Railway servants desirous of obtaining a Fit Certificate. Nevertheless, since two of the three charges were proved, the Supreme Court opined that it was it was fit to impose a penalty of compulsory retirement i.e. in order to meet the end of justice.  

The Supreme Court further opined that imposition of the penalty of compulsory retirement would have instilled sufficient degree of fear in the mind of the employees. It would also not set at naught several years of service which Mr. Ishwar gave to the Indian Railways. Finally, the Supreme Court held that deprivation of retiral benefits in addition to loss of service is entirely incommensurate with the charge of Mr. Ishwar having taken very small sums of money for the issuance of Fit Certificate to other Railway employees.

There are several decisions in which the Supreme Court has held that if the conscience of the Court is shocked as to the severity or inappropriateness of the punishment imposed; it can remand the matter back for fresh consideration to the Disciplinary Authority concerned.

6.    What is the relevance of this case for us?

If at any point of time during the course of your professional life you breach your company policies/rules and a disciplinary action is initiated against you consequentially leading to a punishment which can be considered as unduly severe, please be minded that you have the right to challenge the punishment on the grounds of doctrine of proportionality.