Irresponsible

Badal da was never considered a responsible person.

While in school he preferred to avoid first few benches. He loved to read a lot but not the text books for which he developed a strong aversion since he was a kid. He had a keen interest for anything printed on paper anything beyond his syllabus be it a book ,magazine or newspaper. Though he was never a dull boy he hardly got good marks in examinations and lagged behind his contemporaries as a consequence,

He was neither strong nor aggressive enough to bully others of his age. His acumen in sports was limited to the game of caroms where he felt comfortable. His not-so-affluent family possessed a cycle and Badal da was mostly available on wheels. His other preferred mode of movement was walking. He was compelled to walk long distances and that way came to know even the corners of Kolkata streets, lanes and bye-lanes. He was gifted with a powerful memory and he memorized all the bus routes, destination of trams and places, even the hierarchy of eminent families of Bengal which normally escaped the attention of others. His reading, roaming and keen interest to know made him a store house of general knowledge. While one of his brilliant friends was preparing for UPSC examinations, Badal da was there to assist him in developing general knowledge.

He grew up in a middle class family which, like many others after partition, was uprooted and compelled to live on the outskirts of the city of Kolkata in a rather hand-to-mouth condition. His father managed to find a job of a messenger in a Government Department and mother used to undertake lot of stitching assignments to make some additional earning to run the household. All the members of Badal da’s family were soft spoken. They never learnt to quarrel with the neighbors and were always available in the needs of others and Badal da was not an exception. But as their family was not well to do in the strict sense of the term, the beneficiaries in most cases took their approach for granted; as if they are meant to do those services.

Those qualities were no doubt appreciable but they were not sufficient to raise the status of Badal da in the neighborhood or among relatives who by then were used to the commercial outlook of a metro city. He neither could make mark in studies nor sports nor contemporary politics. He failed to find a gainful employment while his contemporaries came out from colleges as engineers, some joined banks and others in private firms. Badal da did not have the background, qualifications and requisite contacts to find a job and was left behind .He earned the reputation of being a good for nothing.

I had the opportunity to come close to Badal da while I was an engineering student. Most of Badal da’s original friends were by then busy with their occupations, some even went abroad. Badal da was like Man Friday to one or two who were available locally but still he had ample of time for younger like me whenever I came from hostel at the weekends. I found in him a very good companion. Being very friendly by nature he seldom found difficulty in mixing with people from all wakes of life. He had access to lot of subjects, be it literature, politics, amateur dramas and scores of others. I found him quite aware but normally hesitated to accept publicly as most of the people around us already branded him useless.

While I passed out of the college and started receiving interview calls, I badly needed Badal da’s assistance which he readily extended. Once I needed to go to some factory at Salkia.Badal da accompanied me up to the gate of the establishment and asked me whether I had confidence to return on my own. Howrah was a known place so I could assure. But while he took me to some far away organization at Budge Budge road, he perhaps noticed less confidence in me. It was really a remote area. Some how, my interview was preceded with a written test and after lunch I was called in. The process took the entire day. While I was about to come out through the main gate, Badal da called me from behind. He was just having a friendly chat with the security man at post.I was astonished to find him there at the end of the day. How could he manage to come back again? He just smiled and took leave from his newly found friend, the security guard. On our way back, he explained the episode. Once he found me hesitant about my journey back, he decided to stay and accompany me back home and befriended with the Garwahali guard. The guard was immensely impressed with the compassionate friend and entertained Badal da at their canteen with lunch. Badal da was also too pleased to find a pahari friend and on our way back talked about his newly found friend at length. He never once complained or boasted that he spent the whole day at that god forsaken factory for my benefit only.

As he never could find other occupations, Badal da decided to work as a contractor. Through his wide contacts he could manage to get an assignment of painting the inside walls of a restaurant. He knew one paint factory owner who agreed to supply him paints and related materials on credit. Badal da knew that Sudarshan babu, the proprietor of the restaurant, had a fancy for good look but could not afford to spend much. Badal da , just to honour Sudarshan babu's wish , procured good quality paints. His logic was simple. That man would not afford to paint every year. So, why should not do as best as possible? Badal da gathered some laborers who started the work. Within a very short time Badal da became too friendly with them and treated them too liberally and they took long time to complete. Citing the delay as the reason, the proprietor delayed to pay. Badal da's inaugural business venture ended as a loss making project. He had to seek assistance from his friends to meet his dues. However, he blamed neither Sudarshan babu nor the laborers and accepted his own incapacity for the loss.

Badal da is a family man now. His daughters are grown up. He still continues to do his business in his own fashion. Still he feels responsible for the benefit of his client and at the same time try to best for the people who work for us. He still finds it difficult to make both ends meet.But Badal da ,as before, can not change his approach.

Badal da still remains the same irresponsible person.