ALLAHABAD
DIARY--- SUNDAY AFTERNOONS WITH MR PALIWAL
Paliwal
saab had qualified twice in I A S written exams, but
unfortunately on both occasions he could not clear the interview.
But, he never let the failure affect his temperament and maintained
the same calm and composure ,which was the hallmark of his
personality. Probably , it was his very simplicity which let him down
in the interview. I am told by my mother that when the interviewer
asked him as to which place he belonged to he truthfully replied that
he belonged to Deoprayag ( a small town at the confluence of the
rivers Bhagirthi and Alakhnanda in Uttarakhand) and that his family
was in the profession of 'priests', and further added that they were
similar to the 'Pandas' of Allahabad. This may have not gone down
well with the person, as Pandas of Allahabad are quite domineering
and tend to harass pilgrims in order to extract the extra money.
May
be Paliwal saab was the victim of the then I A S selection system in
which a candidate had to clear the written and interview separately
and even if a candidate scored high marks in written his failure in
interview debarred him from the coveted profession. This aberration
was corrected by the Kothari comission's recommendations which were
implemented during late seventies and were certainly very progressive
and inclusive , even though it broke the hegemony of the Allahabad
University which had tailored its syllabus to suit the papers of IAS
or was the IAS examination system patterned on the Allahabad
University syllabus, whatever? Suddenly all the subjects hitherto
considered unsuitable for IAS were in reckoning. Soon we had Pradeep
Shukla of Science faculty topping the IAS, and Engineers and Doctors
were to follow. Earlier if one did MA from our University in
Political Science or Modern History he was well placed for IAS
preparation.
Returning
to Paliwal saab , though he failed to get through IAS he topped the
'office – superintendent ', exams and was appointed in the
Accountant General office at Allahabad. . The office is popularly
referred to as 'AG office' and majority of its staff can be found
from 11 am onwards outside the office near the various stalls
gossiping, having tea. Thus , began his long and uneventful service
life in Allahabad. He cycled during his entire stay in the city and
resided in on a first floor rented house at new katra which was
about 5-6 km from his office.. Soon he gained the officer's post and
was known to be highly respected officer who knew the rules and
regulations , was often consulted by his superiors on tricky issues.
What else he did in office I do not know , but what I know of is his
interactions with my father during long and lazy Sunday afternoons ,
when he regularly visited us in which I was a mere spectator , but
participated occasionally.
Paliwal
saab was a gentleman in the true sense of the term. I never saw him
getting agitated or losing his temper during the various occasions
when we met and discussed various issues. I now know that he just
smiled at my over enthusiasm on
certain
subjects in which he held a different opinion, and it is now that I
know that why he never snubbed me or rebutted me for he knew the
shortcomings of youth and gave wide allowances to my blunders and
errors. A large size black mole was prominent on his face making it
even more visible when he laughed. His hair were peppered and his
attire was bush shirt, pant and sandal on most occasions. He
walked with measured steps. Never boasted of his knowledge, though
under his guidance some of our relatives had qualified in Provincial
services examination. He would say that” I will give you all
allowances but study, drink? Even that I will allow”. It was a big
leeway.
Actually
Paliwal saab was my father's brother-in-law. My father's cousin Sullu
Phuphu ( Bua) was married to him . Their first floor home had
some risky steep steps which had to be carefully negotiated prior to
landing on their house. Sullu Phuphu was thin and always suitably
dressed, kept the house very clean and was an excellent cook, but
unfortunately did not have any children. Her brother Sachu cha cha
lived with them and was studying in the University, he too was of
slim structure, after his graduation from the University he picked
up a job in Mumbai, and I did see him occasionally. Later, when
Paliwalsaab was in Delhi on his promotion the couple adopted a girl
of their relative . Allahabad's sleepy, serene and silent atmosphere
suited their personality .,
Paliwal
saab left a permanent impression on me not by the peculiarity of his
personality; but by his lack of ambition . The more and more I see of
today the more my admiration of Paliwal saab grows. As said earlier
his failure to qualify for IAS narrowly on two occasions did not make
him bitter inwardly or outwardly. He accepted the setback in his
stride and may be sub- consciously accepted that as part of his own
inadequacy and therefore accepted whatever next best happened to him
which was a glorified clerical job.
We
had an independent small house at one end of Ashok Nagar on rent
and as was the culture of that time people visited each other.
Relaxing in the cane chair, he would be engaged in conversations with
my father and I had reached that age when something was making sense
to me. Often he would be deeply immersed in a thick book and emerged
out of it very late in the afternoon, he would make notes on a sheet
of white paper with his precise and set hand. Once he was reading
Bertund Rusell , it was a thick book and by evening he had completed
half of it and was ready for discussions.
One
evening I shall never forget which displayed a little funny but
extremely cautious approach of Paliwal saab. Sullu Phuphu was not in
town as she was visiting her mother in Garhwal, Paliwal saab was all
alone and one day he visited us soon after the office . It was very
late by the time we finished dinner , though we insisted him to stay
back but he preferred to sleep at his home . Those days some
incidents of theft and minor cases of hold ups on road wherein some
miscreants would rob people at knife point or displaying a country
made pistol had occurred . Paliwal saab was also aware of the fact
that a few days prior one of our cousins was robbed of his belonging
when he was returning from Gorakhpur and was in rickshaw near the
junior St' Mary's school Therefore we looked around for a rickshaw
and after much haggling convinced one to take Paliwal saab to new
katra, however to our surprise Paliwal saab insisted that he will
also be taking his cycle along in order to attend his office the next
day. So the cycle was mounted on the rickshaw and Paliwal saab sat on
the seat holding on to the cycle, it was a hilarious site and we
laughed no end . Since then that incident is recalled whenever the
discussion on Paliwal saab emerges.
He
shifted to New Delhi on his promotion. On reaching Delhi he was
allotted Government quarters in R K Puram, he wrote a detailed letter
to my father on his reaching the capital and its initial impressions
on him, we marveled the the quality of his writing and diction and my
father preserved that letter. After retirement he settled down at
Rishikesh. A few years later he met us during the 'Bhagwat- Katha'
which our family had organized at Haridwar. By then the couple had
married their adopted daughter. One day he felt sick ,was bed
ridden for few days and shortly thereafter passed away. His wife ,
Sullu Phuphu followed him a few days later, thus ended a simple
routine life of a genuine gentleman. He received from life what it
gave him never craved or aspired for more.
But
; I do regularly miss him , specially on Sunday afternoons when
despite many TV channels and numerous newspapers and their
supplements I am unable to sift substance from the pulp it provides
and recollect those lazy afternoon discussions with Paliwalsaab
which were sublime.
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