It was impossible to identify who had leaked this news
Next day Badal da could hear his colleague discussing this matter, sotto voce. As it happens always, the topic was discussed among the office staff one at a time. By the evening, all office staff came to know that Badal da gave a bit of his mind to his bosses. As a result, the management denied him to avail of the benefits of VRS. Over and above, everyone also came to know that Badal da was asked to tender his resignation if he wanted to leave the organization.
But the majority couldn't believe that such a humble person like Badal da would become so aggressive. It was everyone’s guess whether he was going to resign or not.
Few were thrilled to hear that he reproached the bosses flat on their faces. Others had the opinion that in the fight between the employee and the management, the management always wins.
Shyamal babu was the first to whisper in Badal da's ears, "You have done the right thing, Badol da. You showed your mettle by speaking the truth. But it is sad to say that you will not be able to prove anything but yr…yr ... your foolishness, I am sorry to say."
He continued after a brief pause, “But you can still escape unscathed. I suggest you go and apologize in their chambers. If needed, fall on their feet. Tell them that you were upset because of your family problem. No one will come to know what you did in a closed room, and your bosses will forgive you.”
He blinked his one eye cunningly and assured him with a broad grin, "Nothing will happen to you, you will see. This is a foolproof formula. I have tried it once successfully."
“When?” asked Badal da flatly.
Shyamal babu suddenly realized that it was better to leave Badal da alone. He left brooding over his foolishness of giving good advice to someone, who rightly deserved removal from the organization.
What no one was able to understand was why Badal da was insisting on taking VRS. Some dug out the fact that initially when he was asked to take VRS on medical grounds; he objected and was even ready to face the medical board. Badal da's act was utterly confusing.
Only Swati knew that he was angry with himself and had gone out of his senses.
She suggested him to keep calm and continue his work.
"Because of your outburst, the management thinks that you are desperate to leave the organization. They will get confused when you don't resign. Since the matter has become so ugly between you and the management that lastly, they will have no choice other than to accept your application for VRS," she had said, "Why should you lose the benefits of the scheme?"
These days Badal da was listening to whatever Swati suggested. He had decided to stay calm and not to raise the matter again.
Swati was right. After three days, Mr. Trilok asked Badal da, “When are you resigning?”
“When did I say that I will resign? I am simply pleading for the VRS,” Badal da said calmly.
This infuriated Mr. Trilok. By the evening, he distributed all his work to Shyamal babu. Badal da had no job. After that, he would come to sit on his chair for the entire office time and go home in the evening.
His colleagues envied him for not doing anything and still claiming his salary. But who could understand better than the management and Badal da, how difficult it was to remain whole day in the office and do nothing. It was more painful than his stomach problem, which had become so agonizing these days that he hardly could sleep at night.
Moreover, his children were trying frantically to talk to him. Every time one of them rang him or sent some message on his phone, he boiled with anger. He would never pick up the phone or read their messages. But every time his heart was filled with pain, indignation and annoyance.
One evening when he was in the washroom his phone started ringing. It kept on ringing time and again till he came out and picked it up. It was an unknown number.
“Yes, Mr. Badal here.”
“Are you angry with me…. Papa?” Tumpa was on the other side.
“Who is it? I don’t know you,” Badal da’s voice changed.
"It's me, Papa. Anu…... mmm …. Tumpa. You are not picking my phone."
“What Happened? Why did you call?”
"How are you, Papa?"
“I am good. You don’t have to worry about me.”
"Don't say like that, Papa. We do care for you. What happened in your office? Did they send you to the medical board?" there was a real concern in her voice.
Badal da’s heart started melting, “I am opting for VRS……. But they are not granting me and asking me to resign if I wanted to go.”
"Papa, you are the best judge. Whether VRS or resignation, whatever suits you, you please go ahead. I want you to be peaceful and happy,” Tumpa said as a matter of fact.
A surge of anger rose inside Badal da. But he refrained from venting it out. He kept his voice as calm as possible, “If I have to decide for myself and you have nothing to say, then why are you asking?”
"I mean, I have full faith in you that you will make the right decision,” Tumpa tried to regain her ground; "If I had been there, then I might have suggested you something."
“But Tumpa, why should they ask me to resign?” Badal da could not hold his anger anymore.
“Are they forcing you? But how can they? Do they have anything against you?”
"No. But they have several tricks up their sleeves. Now they are trying a very old trick on me. They have taken away all the work from me. I have to go and sit idle the whole day. It is a harrowing experience. I didn't realize it when they did this to Akhilesh...... I am getting mad.”
“Papa, you don’t have to torment yourself. I think you better resign and live peacefully.”
“But this is not the answer. Why should I succumb to the pressure? Let me see what more they can do. I am ready to face.”
"Papa, you won't listen to my suggestions. You have never listened to anyone. You always did what you wanted to. That is why I didn't want to speak on this topic."
"This is a very casual approach. You don't know the details, and you are trying to shrug off the matter by saying something for the sake of saying. Let me tell you the complete detail,” Badal da became eager to relate the whole story.
But Tumpa interrupted him, “Let’s change the topic. How is your stomach?”
“Same as before,” Badal da was hurt that Tumpa was not taking an interest in his office matter, which was the primary matter of concern at the moment.
“What did Dr. Taneja tell you? After how many days you will get relief?”
“I have not started his medicine.”
“Why?” Tumpa exclaimed.
“I don’t know. …. He prescribed medicines without looking at my reports. I am waiting for the reports.”
“You are quite a stubborn, Papa. You won't listen to anybody and keep suffering. It is difficult to make you understand that unless you take medicines, you will not get cured. Why do you do this to yourself?" Tumpa got irritated.
"So far, all my reports are normal. I am not taking any medicine without a proper diagnosis."
Immediately he remembered what that doctor in the airplane had said. He continued, “Moreover, Dr. Taneja has given me medicines for some mental problems. He thinks that I am crazy. Why should I take medicines for mental illness when all my troubles are in the stomach? If he changes my medicines after looking at my final report, then it is all right. Otherwise, I will take medicines once given by our medical shop boy Hemant, which almost cured me.”
Again he remembered that it had been two days since he has not enquired from Hemant whether he found that medicine or not. He decided that the first thing he will do in the morning is to follow up with Hemant.
Tumpa was so much annoyed that she could not hold herself from saying that it was no use discussing anything with him.
“You have all the justifications for your decisions.”
“Then why have you started the topic?” Badal da snarled.
"Hold on. Hold on. Hold on," Tumpa tried to calm him down, "Papa, please relax. You always speak like this and take the discussion to a different level. Let us stop blaming each other," she stopped for a while to find the right words that would bring back the discussion on the right track.
"Papa, I am concerned about you. You have to take care of your self. There is no one after mama's death, who can take care of you. We are also away. So please simplify your life and do not bother much about things happening around you. We want to see you happy and healthy. If there is too much stress at work, then resign from the job."
Badal da got moved with these words from Tumpa. She had been his darling daughter. She was so caring before she left for her MBA. He said with a deep melancholy, "Tumpa, can I request you something? It will give me the utmost happiness. Will you listen to me ‘Shona'(sweetheart)?"
"Sure, Papa, I will. Please tell me," Tumpa also became somewhat emotional.
“Shona, please come home. Will you?”
There was silence at the other end for a long while. Badal da started wondering if the phone got disconnected. He called, "Hello, hello. Are you there, Tumpa? Are you listening?"
"Yes, Papa, I am listening,” Tumpa said so softly that Badal da had to strain his ears to listen to her.
He prayed, "Come back home, Tumpa. It is still not too late. I want both of you to come back. I am more worried because I feel that slowly, we are drifting apart. Let us make our lives uncomplicated and stay together. We are a family. No happiness is greater than being together. Please ‘shona' both of you come home."
Again there was a long spell of silence at the other end. But this time, he was encouraged to speak further. After all, she was not arguing. On the contrary, she was listening to him.
He said, "Please forget about that rascal…. I mean that boy you are living-in with. He will never marry you. He will leave you one day. Please try to understand. Before it is too late, gather the courage to brush him aside."
"Papa, I can't make you understand. I do not depend on him. We are not marrying because we don't want a divorce. The day we come to know we are compatible with each other, we will get married. The time is yet to come. You are unnecessarily distressing yourself,” Tumpa said in a very calm voice.
But Badal da could not keep his calm. He asked with authority, "Are you leaving him or not? Tell me, are you coming back home?”
“Papa, you are making life difficult for me. Yogesh has been very nice to me so far. There is no reason why I should break with him. As far as coming to Jamshedpur is concerned, we will not get enough of career opportunities there in that small town,” Tumpa tried to make her point calmly.
Now it was Badal da’s turn to remain silent. Tumpa also did not say anything further. Both of them realized it was no use convincing each other.
Lastly, Tumpa concluded, "Papa, we will not be able to come to Jamshedpur. I called you to say that my exams are over and I am shifting to Hyderabad. Yogesh has found a good job there and I am also applying for an opening in the same city. ……. Do take care of yourself, Papa. We love you. Bye"
Badal da did not say a single word. He disconnected the phone and started weeping.
Early in the morning, he got a call from Babla. He picked up the phone reluctantly. Babla also tried to console him, “Baba, please try to accept the reality. You worked so hard to provide us the best education. Now you cannot expect us to leave our career and rot in a small city. We are always with you emotionally and psychologically. Please try to learn to live without us around.”
“I have become very lonely Babla,” Badal da could not say anything further because tears welled up in his eyes and his voice got muffled with emotions.
Babla again said the same thing, “Coming to Jamshedpur is not the solution Baba.”
He was confronted by Swati when he reached the office. Tumpa had called Nivedita, and in turn, Nivedita informed her mother that uncle was not taking medicines prescribed by Dr. Taneja.
Swati showed her displeasure for not taking medicines. But Badal da cannot be convinced to take medication without receiving the final report from Dr. Taneja.
Luckily Dr. Taneja sent the report in the evening in his email. He had confirmed his diagnosis and asked him to continue medicines already prescribed earlier for one month. Badal da made it clear to Swati that he will not take any medication.
"Why are you behaving like a child?" Swati scolded him.
"You don't understand. I have done a lot of research on this. These doctors have a funny way of diagnosing things. When they can't diagnose a condition, they take patients for a ride. They ask a lot of irrelevant questions, get you to do several tests and finally brand you as a mental case. I am not going to take mental medicine,” Badal da told his final decision.
"Where did you get this idea from? Why should doctors do that? You please bring all your prescriptions and reports after lunch hours. Let me study it. And one more thing, don't make a long face always. Mr. Trilok watches you every time he crosses from here. Maybe he has asked somebody to spy on you. You should look happy and agile."
“Let him think whatever he wants to. I don’t care,” Badal da said carelessly.
“In case he sends you to the medical board and they cook up something for you to throw you out, what will you be able to do?”
“Let them send me to the medical board. They cannot prove that I am suffering from any disease.”
“You know that you are healthy. They don’t know. If they manipulate your reports to prove you are medically unfit for the job, then you will not be able to prove they are wrong. They will have no choice other than to defend their reports. It is better you give them a copy of all the reports, so that they don’t try to brew any hoax reports against you.”
Badal da was filled with admiration for Swati once again. He kept watching her face for a long time. She became a little nervous, "Why are you staring at me?"
"Nothing. …… I just thought if you had not been with me, I would have become mad by now,” Badal da said with a smile.
“Tumpa was right. You are such a child that someone needs to take care of you,” she smiled back with elegance.
Badal da started feeling very light from within. His face got lit up. Swati said, "Yes, that's the way. You look much better when you smile. Keep smiling. …… Keep smiling for your good self as well as for the health of your boss. ….. When he sees you smiling, he will get distressed and frustrated. They will have no choice other than to grant you VRS."
Badal da fixed his eyes on her and said, “After you leave the office, I think you should start a consultancy service and give brilliant ideas on how to face a difficult boss.”
She laughed and said, “I am doing all this for you. Otherwise, you never saw me indulging in any office politics. Moreover, I am going to my daughter after I retire.”
Badal da suddenly became sad.
In the lunch break, he went home to collect all the papers. On the way back to the office, he made photocopies of all the documents. Swati removed all the prescriptions and the case history sheet from the bunch of photocopied papers and asked him to give only his reports to Mr. Trilok.
“Why have you removed my prescriptions?” Badal da enquired.
"You said that they are giving you medicines for a mental problem. Don't let them prove that you have now gone crazy," she smiled at him, "And show your face when you hand over the papers."
Badal da did the same. Mr. Trilok received the papers with raised eyebrows, “What is this?”
"Of late, I got my complete health check-up done. This is just for the records that I am in perfect health,” Badal da smiled at him and came out of his chamber.
After several minutes Mr. Trilok came out and walked towards DGM’s chamber. The bunch of papers that Badal da gave him was in his hands. It caught Badal da’s attention. He whispered to Swati, “Why is he taking my reports to DGM?”
She looked at Mr. Trilok and said, “You are lucky that you gave them the reports just in time. They were probably planning to send you to the medical board.”
"You are a genius, madam. I wonder how you could foresee that they will send me to the medical board and plot something against me,” Badal da was very impressed with her intelligence.
“Keep your fingers crossed and your face glowing with happiness. You have hit the nail right into the head. They may react very badly out of frustration,” Swati cautioned him.
Badal da could not understand correctly.
“What exactly do you mean,” he asked innocently.
"After receiving your reports, they cannot plan to remove you on medical ground. You will challenge their reports. Now out of vengeance, they will do something to infuriate you so that you become angry and resign in frustration.”
Badal da was amazed at her intelligence. He asked, “How do you know all this?”
“Remember, I have been in this office for around twenty-five years. I have been silently observing a lot many things all these years,” for the first time it seemed to Badal da that she giggled.
“But you never said anything in the past?”
“Why should I poke my nose in office matters when it is not going to affect me?”
“But why this time?” Badal da asked.
She gave him a pleasant smile and said, "Because you are such an innocent cow. If I don’t protect you, you will be slaughtered very easily.
She got herself busy and Badal da kept on looking at her with admiration and gratitude.
During the closing minutes, Badal da was called by the boss. Mr. Trilok did not ask him to sit. He shuffled through the papers on his table and picked up one neatly typed sheet. He signed on it and gave it to him.
"Mr. Badal, we are sending you on an essential assignment. From tomorrow you report to the site in-charge of the new boiler construction site. We are not happy with the speed and quality of work there. You will have to stand there and supervise everything from morning till evening. Ok, you can go now.”
Badal da was about to say something, but he remembered what Swati had said. He gave a broad grin and thanked him for the favor and walked out of his chamber like a winner. Mr. Trilok was left behind at a complete loss.
Badal da bade goodbye to all his office colleagues before leaving the office.
In the evening, he called Swati to tell her that actually, he was very nervous. It was a most horrible assignment. He was supposed to stand in the sun the entire day and watch things happening. He was afraid that he would not be able to survive this persecute long enough. Swati requested him to keep his morale high and not to show his annoyance.
The next day he was at the construction site doing nothing but standing in the sun. The site in-charge was least bothered about his presence, but he was keeping an eye on him at the same time. He understood everything and pretended to enjoy his work.
When he returned home, he was completely exhausted and straight away went to bed. But there was some advantage of this new assignment too. He hardly had time or strength left to grumble over his family issues. He did not realize this for many days.
It was a working lunch on the site. He was not allowed to go home or to the canteen. This irritated him because he had to carry his lunch box now. He was having his breakfast in the hotel and packed idli or wada in the lunch box. His stomach got more upset than before because of the hotel food. Canteen food was more hygienic.
The most annoying thing was his frequent visit to the toilet, which was a little far from the site. Whenever he went to the toilet, the site in-charge would watch him with annoyance written all over his face. Badal da would smile at him and he got more irritated.
But Badal da was also feeling very irritated because, at the construction site, there was no place to sit. He loitered around the entire day. Since he did not have anything to do, he felt the urge to go to the toilet more often.
By the end of the week, he got so exasperated that he started thinking of giving up the act and blast at the management. Swati, with much difficulty, could restrain him from doing something foolish and spoiling the whole show.
I have to find something of interest to sustain my patience, Badal da thought one day. He started observing around and tried to talk to people working there. The site in-charge was not interested in talking to him. When Badal da tried to talk to the workers, the site in-charge snarled at them.
Close to the boiler construction site, a contractor was developing a small garden. His truckloads of earth were continuously being unloaded at the garden site. Whole day laborers were engaged in leveling the ground. Badal da made acquaintance with the supervisor of the garden project. Now he found somebody to talk to.
He observed that the trucks were loaded with less than half of their capacity with the earth. He asked the supervisor. He gave him a meaningful smile.
Badal da immediately understood everything. The contractor was supplying less than half a truckload of earth and was charging for the full truckload. He decided to become a ‘Whistleblower'.
He reported this matter to the Ethics Counsellor.
It stirred the calm flowing water, and before it drowned many people, the DGM was called by the MD. The next day DGM asked Mr. Trilok with his usual composure, "You better call him back. He is making us all ill at ease.”
Badal da came back to the office. He thought the matter was over. By this time, he was mentally and emotionally little settled also. He thanked God for the rejection of his VRS application. He also thanked Swati for not allowing him to tender his resignation. Now he had enough time to think about his retirement plans. But he was sad that Swati would be leaving the office soon.
As of now, he was again in Swati's company and was very happy to come back to the office. He tried several times indirectly to change her decision to go away from Jamshedpur.
One day Swati told him something which made him jump out of his skin. She had analyzed his medical reports and came to an exciting conclusion. In the lunch break, she told Badal da, "You will be surprised to know that all the doctors right from Dr. Joydeb to Medical Institute prescribed you the same medicine. I mean, the molecule was either the same or from the same group of medicines. Only the trade names were different. I checked on the net."
Badal da was shocked to hear this. He muttered, "I can understand if my dispensary doctor misdiagnosed my case because he did not do any test on me. But how can all the doctors of the country misdiagnose my case after such expensive and painful tests? The standard of medical treatment is very poor in India. Swati Madam, should I go to Australia for my treatment?”
Swati started laughing.
“Why don’t you first try the medicine?”
“Mental medicine? No way. I will rather spend some more money and go to Australia than trying medicines prescribed by Indian doctors.”
“And what if they too prescribe you the same molecule? …… Listen to me. You first try this medicine and if you don't get relief, then you can plan something else," Swati persuade him.
“You mean to say I am a mental case?” Badal da asked innocently.
"If you don't start the medicine, you will prove yourself a mental case."
Badal da decided that he will start the medicine prescribed by Dr. Taneja. But when he went to Ghosh Pharmacy, he changed his mind. If Hemonto finds out what medicine he gave me that day, then there will be no need to take mental medicine, he thought. He again requested Hemant to find out the magic pill. He explained to him that he had been to Delhi also for his treatment, but he had more faith in him rather than the Gastro specialists.
Mr. Ghosh also flattered Hemant to find out the medicine Badal da was looking for, "You are such a bright ‘chhele' (Boy). You can remember. Today when you go to sleep, pray to goddess Durga and try to concentrate your mind. By tomorrow morning Durga maa will enlighten you.”
Hemant was not used to this level of flattery. He became so amused that he immediately started straining his brains. When Badal da went away, Mr. Ghosh shouted at him for daydreaming.
