My scheduled
journey from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi could not have been more royal. Finally,
the capital of the state of Orissa had got a direct link to the national
capital and India Rail offered Bhubaneswar a whole Coach that would carry the
privileged passengers to Delhi without the demeaning de-boarding and waiting en
route for a connecting train. A word about how privileged the facility was,
needs to be said. The Coach would get attached to Puri-Howrah Express and would
get detached at Khargpur, to be attached to a train up to Asansol and then from
there the Coach would move upto Mughal Sarai and then would get attached to the
Assam Mail to reach New Delhi. And I was travelling First Class at government
expense, to appear in the personality test of the Union Public Service
Commission for the IAS/IFS/IPS/Allied Services recruitment Examination. The
privilege felt exciting till I got into the four seated compartment after
taking leave of my parents at the railway station. Soon, I had my tryst with
reality. I remained the lone traveller and felt somewhat disconnected. At
Kharagpur, our coach got detached and shunted to unknown corner of the station.
No vendor selling samosa or alu chop or even chai would care to tread off the
beaten path to locate the sole hungry man lying in a discarded coach. The
feeling of a pariah pinched. But I had to move on. The experience at Mughal
Sarai was even much worse. The Coach would move in frightening darkness at
great speed for minutes without a sign of where it was heading to. I could feel
how a shooting star felt after losing its path. The ignominy lasted too long
for me to keep awake. Finally Assam Mail delivered me at New Delhi. It was a
Monday.
I headed for
the Orissa Bhavan. Around seven thirty in the evening, I was in the Dining
Room. There was no sign of activity. I sat alone for minutes. Finally a terse
looking Lobo, the man in charge of the place, appeared and looked at me with
some amount of scorn. I asked him for food. Lal Bahadur Shastri had then urged
people to voluntarily give up one meal a week to save food for the drought
affected people. The response to his appeal was overwhelming. Even restaurants
and eateries downed the shutters on Monday evenings. Many parts of the country
observed the “Shastri Vrat”. Orissa Bhavan had fallen in line. Lobo explained
it to me. That meant there would be no food not only in Orissa Bhavan but in
the neighbourhood as well. I must have looked forlorn to Lobo. He suo motu
brought a couple of Bhusavali Bananas. His eyes told me that I soon got lost
with the fruits. I complied.
Next morning
I landed at the Dining Room rather early. But the place looked more hospitable.
I was enjoying a good breakfast when someone patted me on my back. I turned.
The gentleman smiled and asked me if I was the son of Mr Somanath Mishra. I was
a bit surprised. “How did you know”, I asked in a tone of surprise. “You
resemble him’ he said softly with a smile. He introduced him as the Resident
Commissioner, Mr RC Pal Singh. I was impressed with his suave personality, soft
voice and stylish articulation. He wished me well in the interview.
My interview
was to take place on Wednesday. I had one day of rest and leisure. In the
afternoon I went up to the Dholpur House on a reconnaissance mission to make an
assessment of the time it takes to reach the place and have an idea on the most
convenient route. The next morning, before the excitement of facing the interview
board would have a grip on me I decided to commence my journey. I left the
Orissa Bhavan around seven thirty in the morning, alone, on foot. The walk was
pleasant, a leisurely walk, that kept me fresh and my nerves in place. Around
eight thirty, I was in a comfortable waiting lounge in Dholpur House, alone.
Other candidates called for the morning session, slowly arrived. None of them
would have walked the distance I was sure. One of them was narrating to a
friend of his before me how he kept listening to music the whole of the
previous night to keep his soaring excitement on leash. I kept watching and
listening to them. It was good entertainment. When my turn came, I walked into
the interview hall in a state of bliss.
*****************
(27th May, 2015)
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