Ranjit Sen’s Dilemma

Ranjit Sen was returning from SSKM hospital. He had admitted his wife there on that day. He had called up his brother and informed him that he would be staying with him in his Swiss Park house for a few days. His brother had asked him to come over and that they would be expecting him. So he had taken the metro from Park Street and he would get down in Rabindra Sarobar and walk to his brother’s house from there. He was feeling very tired and felt like taking a taxi, but he knew that he had to save every penny for his wife’s treatment. But why did Ranjitbabu have to admit his wife to SSKM hospital? For that we need to know a little background details.
Ranjitbabu was a maths teacher in Krishna Bhavini School in Chandannagore. He was well liked and respected by his students because he was a very good and fair teacher to them. As a teacher he was warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. He also displayed integrity in his interactions with his friends, family and acquaintances. He was truthful and upright in principle and action. Chandannagore being a small place, and he being a teacher in a reputed school, he was quite well known, well liked and widely respected.
It was his last day in school before the Puja holidays started. Then the school would be closed for a week and he looked forward to the rest. He was feeling a bit dejected as he had not been able to buy sarees for his wife and new dresses for his younger daughter Rina for the Puja. Ranjitbabu had got his elder daughter married three months back and he had to borrow a lot of money to pay for the wedding. He had to send expensive sarees and dresses to his newly married daughter on the occasion of Durga Puja and the costs seemed to be simply piling up. Now they had no money for festivities and he was also worried regarding how to pay college fees for Rina. All these thoughts depressed him and brought about a fresh bout of nagging back pain and he slowly walked back to his home in Urdibazar, Chunagali. He reached home around 4 pm. He knocked on the front door but there was no response. His wife must have gone out. How irresponsible of her! Thanking God that he had remembered to take the key of the front door lock with him, he took it out of his pocket and opened the door. He felt highly irritated as he was hungry and wanted a snack. But his irritation turned to horror when he found his wife Dipti, lying unconscious in the sitting room. Rina was attending college and had not yet come back home. Taking the help of a neighbour, he rushed Diptidevi to the Chandannagore hospital where they admitted her to the ICU. Two days later, they told Ranjitbabu that she needed an immediate bypass surgery and referred him to SSKM hospital in Kolkata. Ranjitbabu said, “But today is Saptami, will the doctor be available?” The doctor attending to his wife, Dr Pramanic, knew Ranjitbabu quite well and liked him as his daughter was studying in Krishna Bhavini School. He said, “Do not worry Ranjitbabu. I know the head of Cardiology in SSKM very well. I will tell him that it is an emergency. I am sure he will help you.”
So Ranjitbabu arranged for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. The head of cardiology department was full of empathy. He patiently explained what was wrong with Diptidevi and why a surgery was required. He said that it would be a fairly routine operation and risks were minimal, but a minimum of three lakhs will be required for the treatment. He also said that as Diptidevi had blockages in her artery, the only way to save her life would be to have an immediate surgery. In the meantime she had to be admitted to the ICU. Ranjitbabu agreed to the operation.
By the time he had completed the formalities and got his wife admitted to the ICU, it was already 11 pm. His brother Kartikbabu was staying in Swiss Park. Kartikbabu was bedridden as he had suffered a stroke three months back. So Ranjitbabu could not expect any help from Kartikbabu. Asking the hospital attendant for directions he understood that he would have to take the metro from Park Street to Tollygunge and walk to Swiss Park from there. But will the metro be open at this time? The attendant assured him that it would be open as metro ran whole night till 4 am in the morning during the pujas.
Rubbing his aching back Ranjitbabu started walking towards the Park Street Metro station. He did not know from where he would get the three lakhs. He loved his wife very much and he knew that he would have to get the money at any cost. Feeling tired and defeated he walked slowly towards the metro station. The streets were gaily decorated with bright lights and light frothy Rabindra Sangeet was playing from the various pandals, but darkness and despair filled his mind. He headed south towards Shambhunath Pandit Street and turning left at the mosque he reached the Cathedral Road. Here he got confused and had to stop a young gentleman passing by to ask for directions again. The youth was quite kind and helpful, and retracing his steps took Ranjitbabu till Birla Planetarium. Near the planetarium Ranjitbabu’s confusion cleared and after ensuring that he would be able to reach the metro station on his own, the young man left.
Musing on the fact that the younger generation of today was not so bad after all, Ranjitbabu slowly walked into the station. Holding the railing and his bag in which he had packed some spare clothes for himself, he descended the steps slowly. He found that there was a big que near the ticket counter. He was amazed that even so late in the night there was a big crowd. Cursing his bad luck he took up position after the last man in the cue. By the time he had reached the ticket counter it was already eleven forty in the night. The man behind the counter was very irritated when Ranjitbabu produced a 100 rupee note and he started grumbling but perhaps something on Ranjitbabu’s face aroused his compassion because he returned the change without saying anything more. The train to Tollygunge was arriving in two minutes time and everybody was rushing to catch it. Somebody rudely pushed him and he nearly fell, but another elderly gentleman caught him just in time.
“Aha – hope you are not hurt?”
“No I am fine - just feeling a little dizzy…” Ranjitbabu replied.
The elderly man had a heavy bag in his hand, but still with his other hand he held Ranjitbabu and gradually took him down the stairs to the platform. “So where are you going?”
“Rabindra Sarobar.” – Ranjitbabu responded.
The man said, “I will go to Jatin Das Park – I stay near Hazra junction. I think we both missed the train. No worries we will catch the next train. It will come in 15 minutes.” The platform was extremely crowded. But somehow they managed to make a space for themselves in one corner.
The man was obviously quite garrulous as he said, “I am Nimai Sarkar. I am coming from Bowbazar. I had some work there and as my sister lives close by I visited her. She forced me to have dinner before leaving. That is why I got so late. I had taken a taxi but it broke down near Park Street station. In this Puja time it is very difficult to get another taxi – so I decided to take the metro. Just look at the crowd! Tomorrow it will be worse as more people will roam around during Ashtami. So sir what do you do?”
Ranjitbabu replied, “I am a school teacher. I teach mathematics. I stay in Chandannagore. I have come to Kolkata for my wife’s treatment”
The other man responded, “I am retired, but I was working in a private company. In fact my daughter’s marriage has been fixed and I had gone to Bowbazar to place some orders for her jewellery. In this age everything is becoming so expensive. After her marriage I will not have much savings left. The only thing that will remain is my father’s house. Well at least I will still have a roof over my head!”
Ranjitbabu nodded his head in sympathy. He could easily identify himself with this man’s problems. After all he was in the same boat! In fact he was in a worse situation as he had to mortgage his house to get the money for his daughter’s wedding. Before he could say anything in response the signboard showed that the train towards Tollygunge would arrive in two minutes. Both the men got up and took up position near where the compartment door would open. The train arrived with a thundering sound and stopped. The compartment door was slightly ahead. But there was a huge crowd of people around them and all of them were pushing, trying to get inside. Somehow Ranjitbabu and the man got in together. In the senior citizen section an elderly couple were sitting with their young son. The son got up on seeing the two elderly gentlemen. Nimaibabu told Ranjitbabu, “You are feeling dizzy – please seat down. I can stand no problem.” Ranjitbabu sank down gratefully into the seat. Nimai Sarkar stood near the door on the right side. It was a good place to stand as all other platforms would be on the left side. Nimaibabu was having problem holding his bag and maintaining balance in the moving train at the same time and put down the bag by his side. Ranjitbabu felt extremely tired and sleepy. It had been a long day and spent mostly in hospitals and ambulances. He also felt light headed and realised that he had not eaten anything since breakfast. He dosed off and suddenly when he woke up, he found that the train was moving out of a station. A voice in in the overhead microphone was announcing, “The next station is Rabindra Sarobar, platform is on the left side” in Hindi, English and Bengali. The train was less crowded, nearly empty, by this time as quite a lot of people must have got down at Kalighat. Ranjitbabu looked around searching for Nimai Biswas but could not see him anywhere. Then he realised that Nimaibabu must have got down earlier. He got up and moved towards the door, and while standing near the door, he noticed Nimaibabu’s bag lying near the opposite door unnoticed by anybody. He realised that Nimaibabu must have forgotten to take the bag with him. He felt irritated. How irresponsible of that man! Should he take the bag with him or should he just leave it behind? By then the train was nearing Rabindra Sarobar station and he would have to get down there. He decided that he would get down with the bag and deposit it at the ticket counter and leave. He got down stiffly for the bag was heavy and his back was aching. He then sat down in one of the chairs near the escalator to check what was inside the bag. When he looked inside he saw three or four sarees and three pairs of shoes and a big makeup box. Then he went up the escalator and went to the counter but he could not see the clerk anywhere. As he was himself in a lot of pain and not feeling well he decided to deposit the bag next day and took a rickshaw to his brother’s home. His sister-in-law was waiting with the food and after hurriedly changing into a lungi, Ranjitbabu sat down to eat. After eating he took a painkiller and went to sleep in the spare bedroom with a hot water bag thoughtfully provided by his sister-in-law.
Before getting into bed, he decided to check the bag thoroughly once more as he thought the clerk might ask for an inventory when he went to deposit the bag next morning. He took out the sarees and shoes and the makeup box, a wedding invitation card and then he noticed a bundle wrapped in paper at the bottom. When he opened the bundle he found that it was full of money. Hurriedly he got up and locked his bedroom door. Then he started counting the money. There was three and a half lakhs in cash all in 1000 rupees note. Ranjitbabu started shaking. He did not know what to do. He needed three lakhs if he wanted to save his wife and here was the money for that. He was highly tempted to take the cash. If he kept the cash nobody will ever know. Then he remembered Nimai Sarkar’s face, he remembered his kindness towards him. Ranjitbabu was an honest and law abiding and god-fearing person. He had never hurt anybody. He did not even kill insects if he could help it! He could not hurt a fly! And he knew that this money was meant to be used for Nimaibabu’s daughter’s marriage. The marriage could stop if the money was not available. He started pacing the room his tiredness forgotten – what was to be done? His conscience told him that the money should be returned as a young woman’s future was at stake. But he loved his wife very much and her life was at stake. Then he thought that Ma Durga must have taken a hand in his time of crisis and sent the money to him. After spending a sleepless night where he alternated between thoughts of returning the money or keeping it, he decided that his wife’s life was more important at this point. So he decided not to return the money. He consoled himself with the thought that once the surgery was over he would somehow get the three and half lakhs and go to the address printed on the card and personally hand over the money to Nimaibabu with heartfelt apologies.
In the morning by 9:30 am he had returned to the hospital and made the payment. The operation would happen at 11:30 am. His younger daughter Rina had also come by that time from Chandannagore. Then they waited and prayed. Around 2:30 pm the doctor came out of the operation theatre and smiled at Ranjitbabu. He said, “You can relax now. The operation is successful. We will keep your wife in the ICU for today and tomorrow and then transfer her to the general ward. You can go home and take some rest now.”
Ranjitbabu stammered out his thanks but the doctor was already moving away by that time. On one hand he was relieved that his wife would be fine now, but he also worried about how Nimaibabu would manage without the money. He thanked Goddess Durga for keeping his wife alive, and for helping him to tide over the crisis and he and Rina travelled back by metro to Rabindra Sarobar. But as Ranjitbabu tried to get up to a rickshaw to go to Swiss Park he felt a catch in his back and he was in agony. Somehow the rickshaw driver and Rina helped him sit in the rickshaw and then the rickshaw driver pedalling furiously, soon brought them to Kartikbabu’s house. With the rickshaw driver’s help his daughter made him comfortable in bed and went to call a doctor. She came back with the local doctor who gave him an injection and sedative, and advised him complete bed rest till he felt better. Ranjitbabu was only too glad to oblige and sank into a deep sleep temporarily relieved from all his dark and depressing thoughts. Just before falling asleep he resolved that tomorrow he must go the pandal and offer Anjali to the divine goddess on the occasion of Navami.
Next day on Navami, he felt better and after taking a bath went to the local pandal and offered puspanjali. He prayed, “Dear Mother, I am very much unworthy of receiving your blessings and love as you know that I have committed the sin of taking someone’s hard-earned and much needed money for my own selfish gains. You might think how dare I come to you and beg you to help me. You know I cannot unburden my guilt by talking about this to anyone, including my wife. You know everything dear God, you know my heart, my mind, my sins my infirmities, my helplessness, my mistakes and my tears. You are a forgiving mother, please forgive me and bless me so that I never ever commit another sin like this. I will strive to return the money and become worthy again of your love and affection.” Feeling slightly less guilty he went back to bed to rest and Rina went to the hospital to visit his wife. Next day on Dashami, feeling a lot better Ranjitbabu decided to accompany his daughter to the hospital. They took the 2 pm train towards Dumdum. When the train stopped at Jatin Das Park, Nimaibabu got up in the train. Seeing him, Ranjitbabu felt sweat running down his body in spite of the air-conditioning. Had Nimaibabu somehow come to know that he had taken the money? But he was relieved to see Nimaibabu smiling at him. Nimaibabu was looking extremely unwell and it was clear that he had not shaved for the last two days. Nimaibabu walked up to Ranjitbabu and said, “How are you Ranjitbabu? Hope your wife is well.”
Ranjitbabu gave a nervous smile and said, “I am fine! But you are not looking too well”
Nimaibabu said, “What to say Ranjitbabu. I absentmindedly left the bag I was carrying that day in the train. The bag contained three and a half lakh rupees, the last of my savings that I had kept to spend on my daughter’s marriage. Now I will have to mortgage my house to proceed with the marriage. I am feeling extremely sick with worry and tension. Did you see anybody take the bag that day?”
Ranjitbabu shook his head. He said firmly, “No I did not.” He felt a tremor in his body as he uttered these words and he felt extremely ashamed of himself – but what could he do? He was a victim of circumstances beyond his control. And the money was already spent. There was no way of returning the money now.
He hesitantly asked, “What did you do?”
Nimaibabu responded, “I have lodged a complaint with the police, but we all know that it will be impossible to find who has taken the bag. After all the train was so crowded! It is my fault being so careless. As I am growing older, I am becoming more absent minded. You know, I have not been able to eat anything for the last two days. It has been the worst Durga puja of my life. My wife and daughter are crying their eyes out and I am also feeling equally helpless. I am going to Bowbazar to cancel the jewellery orders. I am not sure how the groom’s family will react when they find out that we will not be able to provide gold jewellery.” Feeling like an utter hypocrite Ranjitbabu said, “Oh no I am so sorry to hear about your misfortune!”
All his life, Ranjitbabu had spent trying to live honestly in spite of all adversities that life had brought to him, but he had failed and faltered at this moment of crisis. Everyone looked up to him and respected him for his honesty and uprightness. Ranjitbabu felt shame, fear and regret. But he also knew that what he had done was best kept to himself and no one must ever know about this as it would destroy all the good reputation that he had struggled so hard to build. He would just have to live all his life with this guilty and sordid secret till he died.
The train reached Park Street Station and with some relief he got down there with Rina. He gave a shamefaced little wave to Nimaibabu and holding Rina’s hand he slowly started to walk towards the hospital with a heavy and guilt stricken heart.