Amar Akbar Anthony

In 1973 I lost touch with Debashis. Ten years later we bumped into each other in JNU for a year before once again drifting away. Then one fine day Vims announced that Debashis was coming to Mumbai setting in motion a flurry of SMS’s and telephone calls. That’s how the troika got to meet on 19th of March at 7.30 PM in a 6th floor guest house at Napean Sea Road.

Believe me the three ageing SVCians were all as excited as labrador puppies become when they meet their masters!! After hugs and back slaps and polite compliments about our looks (all lies) we settled down before a huge window overlooking the Arabian Sea.

“What will you prefer?” Debashish said pointing towards the bottles of Chevas Regal, 100 Pipers and Glenn Fidditch. For an ’87 batch IAS officer working in the Health ministry he sure had the right prescrption for what promised to be a nostalgia soaked night.

“A driver”, I said promptly.

Debashis was flummoxed and I had to explain. You see, I told him, I had driven straight from office and if Mumbai Police smells liquor while you are driving you are promptly fined and if you smell of scotch and struggle with your Marathi you might even end up in jail for three months. A driver was promptly arranged and I settled deeper in my chair ready for a long night with Glenn Fidditch, Chilli chicken, Chicken tikka, tandoori chicken and a sea of memories.

Vims settled for Pepsi. We simply had to shrug our shoulders. After all haven’t philosophers said that it takes all to make a world.

We chattered excitedly about so many things that one just can’t even recollect. Sister Rosalie, the statue of St.Vincents and how we broke his hand, Gita Kar, Afshan, Shankar, Joydeep, Nanda, the secret seven club, the walk along the railway tracks, the Madras-Howrah Mail, the Faiyaz memorial tournament….. Since Debashis lived in the station road, he was the lynch pin of our ‘adventures’ around the Berhampur station and the tracks.

In between all this Vims, the unofficial ambassador of Nokia (he believes in connecting people) was busy getting voices from the past. We spoke, or should I say I remember speaking, to Joydeep, Basant Soni and were unable to reach out to Shankar and Jawaid. Vims remembered how I had hooked his new cricket ball out of Union club. That must have been in 1972 or 1973. Thirty seven years down the road we still remember those days!!!

Debashis is not a man of many words. But his broad smile and twinkling eyes say it all. You recollect an incident here and a nugget there and he would smile and nod his head and then say, “Great.” His other variation is “Yes, Yes, that was great.”

As the night wore on and we had exhausted our “Great” and “That was great” moments we decided to shift base. We headed to Leopold Café in south Mumbai. Yes, that very landmark restaurant from where Kasab and his band of merry men started the assault with AK-47. The chicken Biryani was really great. Though all three SVCians were unanimous on the point that Delhi was ‘the’ place for chicken. Through the blur I still recollect that Vims was shifting his allegiance back to Mumbai by talking about some chicken biryani joint in Sion or maybe Chembur!! The ball is in your court now mate. It was well past midnight when we decided to call it a day.

It was “really great” catching up with Debashish. It was equally ‘great’ to know that his younger brother Subhashis is also an IAS officer. I think he was in the first standard in 1973. His younger sister Smita Panda, two years junior to us in SVC, used to teach economics in BJB College. Her husband is also in the IAS and is currently posted in Delhi. She too is probably doing some research project there. Debashis is blessed with two children. His daughter is pursuing her engineering degree from Chennai while his son is a class X student in DPS, RK Puram. His family has shifted base from Berhampur and are now based in BBSR.

Thanks Debashis and Vims for a truly great evening/night/early morning. Hope to catch up soon. Enjoy your trip to Geneva and Paris. I am sure the trip will be great!!!