The Governor departs

The day before yesterday , I completed 32 years in the service. There was a request from Bhaskar, friend from Delhi University days, squad mate, fellow straggler in the cross country runs at the academy , director of Kafka’s Metamorphosis  where he tricked me into his cast, a director of many documentaries, tough and sensitive cop and now DG, Assam , to ferret  out some pictures from the academy days .

There were quite a few- rock climbing, Army attachment at Tenga, sundry academy activities, and many of the Bharat Darshan where I was given the North India segment. Bhaskar was with me in that group , and amongst the many was a group photo with Satya Narayan Reddy, the then Governor of UP , at Nainital. 

I don’t quite remember about the visit to His Excellency, except that the interaction was at a lush green lawn, and bereft of any moment that could stand out. He was a man of few words , but quite at ease with posing for such group photographs. 

But we were  to cross each other’s path again. 

When Prof Nurul Hasan , the Governor or  West Bengal whose ADC I was in the year 1993, died  at Woodburn Ward at SSKM Hospital, Kolkata , Satya Narayan Reddy who had since moved over to a gubernatorial assignment at Odisha, was asked to look after West Bengal as an interim arrangement. He would visit Kolkata quite often, fly in the Orissa sate govt. plane.  

An early riser , he would love to walk in the south side lawns of the Raj Bhavan, a building earlier known as Government House , built by Lord Wellesley who wanted that “India should be ruled from a Palace and not from a Counting House; with the ideas of a Prince, not with those of a retail dealer in muslins and indigo.” 

The Governor would be  dressed in starched white kurta pajama and a white bundi, even at 6 in the morning , and I in my uniform with an aiguillette, a kind of a ceremonial tempering or tadka. On those walks, the spartan and man of frugal habits, came out as an amiable person with an intimidatingly outstanding command over Hindi - not for nothing this man from Mehboobnagar had in his student days published a Hindi fortnightly Mukul and later edited an Urdu weekly Payam-e-Nav during his incarceration in 1947 by the Nizam’s government. 

This Gandhian, Lohiaite, and Socialist was rather fit for his age , and I remember once he slipped in mid stride on the moss formed on the road and even as I lunged sideways to break his fall, he steadied up on his own. I just shuddered to think what would have happened had this happened with  his predecessor. Anyway, the Estate Staff , long used to neglect during the incumbency of a largely non ambulatory Governor, and who probably thought the road has to be made only drive and not walk worthy , was hauled up.

An event from his incumbency which I recall was police firing on  supporters of Congress Party who were participating in the Writers’ Chalo Abjhiyaan called by the firebrand leader Mamata Banerjee on 21st July , 1993,  and the flurry of activity  that followed.  Home Minister SB Chavan had come over, and was briefed by the Chief Minister in presence of the Governor at the Wellesley suites of Raj Bhavan. Bengal’s politics was never dull, and I thought Satya Narayan Reddy  ji quite liked his visits to Kolkata. 

During one such visit , it so happened that the Warrant of appointment as Governor of West Bengal under the hand and seal was issued in favour of Raghunath Reddy , ex labour minister of India, a three times Rajya Sabha Member and the then Governor of Tripura.This  sudden announcement , along with the information that swearing in would be held on the following day, resulted in Satya Narayan Reddy ji deciding to fly back to Bhubhaneshwar on the second day of his proposed four day visit to Kolkata.

There was one problem - the two pilots who had flown him in were traceless ( they thought they would be required to fly after two days  later). Mobile phones were yet to come. . With great difficulty , one was traced and asked to proceed to  Dum Dum Airport. 

We, too , left for the airport . His Orissa ADC , a year junior to me  , was also present . Home Secretary  and Under Secretary , Government of West Bengal were  already there as  part of protocol. 

The Orissa ADC was scared that only one pilot would be available to fly back the plane . What would happen if he had a heart attack ? Was it safe ? 

Then he went to the craft . The solitary pilot who was pottering around , doing the pre flight checkings , the ADC said , was drunk . The ADC, a non - drinker and was quite  intimidated at the prospect of flying  with a pilot who reeked of liquor at 230 pm . He kept on coming  to me in the ceremonial lounge and mumble his doubts . I was not in sync with him  about anxiety over the pilot smelling of liquor as I knew even after more than a few drinks, men could wake up the next morning early, do morning PT which could include rope climbing and front and back rolls and horse vaults, and then slip into starched khakis for a two period of parade under a hot Hyderabad sun. 

I did not know much about planes and pilots, having flown only once in my life in a commercial plane till then. Besides, my next air journey had almost ended up in a tragedy. No, not  a crash or something like that, but in the return flight in this same Orissa government  with the then West Bengal Governor Nurul Hasan who was holding additional charge of Orissa,  I had accidentally touched the back  adjusting lever , in a dark cabin, and the back rest went down with a very helpless and weighty Governor lying almost flat on his back. The Governor, however, displayed remarkable sangfroid even as he lay supine and uttered Barkhudaar, aapne toh mujhe leta diya ( son, you have laid me down ).

So I said go and talk to HS who could already sense the ADC’s unease . He got up , went up to the plane , undertook an olfactory survey, and announced - oh , it’s just a hard night’s drink . He is fit to fly . 

Now the ADC  had no further court of appeal to approach . The Governor saw his ADC’s crestfallen crouch and said for all to hear in his very shuddh Hindi.  - tumhe bhai lagta toh yahin raho, main to avashya jaa raha hooN ( if you are afraid, then you stay back. I will definitely go).

The poor ADC couldn’t back out . 

But though he said it was fine,  he sat in the cockpit  in the co pilot’s seat - which the pilot , to humour , had offered as a lollipop - with as much ( or as little if you insist) confidence  as  a quite a few probationers did  while astride the horses of Hanumant Singh’s stable at NPA, Hyderabad. 

That was the last I saw of the Orissa Governor and his ADC who both waved and  flew away.