My life in 'Laloo Land'

My life in Laloo Land

I was working for about 4 years in Ranchi(now capital of Jharkhand), Bihar till April, 1996. My family loved our life there. We had many good reasons. We had gone straight after a stint in dry and hot old Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu. In contrast, The climate was salubrious to say the least. The city was once the summer capital of Bihar. Cheap Farm fresh vegetables, copious supply of river water, and the relatively low cost of living made the place very attractive. A local elderly gentleman(a practicing Homeopath) became our Good Samaritan. His daughter taught Hindi to my children. We became family friends visiting each other on all festivals.I could establish a relationship with some Tamil families living in colonies of SAIL, HEC and Army.  My work place was also very pleasant with very friendly colleagues and helpful superiors.  Some of my colleagues at Office became so intimate that we used to visit each other with family.  My colleagues at Office used to organise picnics to picturesque riverside & Water falls during Winter.

Power-cuts every alternate hour and the prevailing poor law and order situation was the only dampener of our spirits. Twice during our stay, a Gramin Bank opposite to our residence was robbed in daylight by armed dacoits.

Never the less, we led a peaceful life till that fateful day when my neighbour (Principal of a reputed University) sipping tea in our house, broke the bad news. Animal Husbandry Scam was just exposed at that time. The people involved in the scam fled the scene to Nepal with their families. The administration led by an IAS official started raiding the residences of the scam-tainted. The raiding party consisting of policemen used to pull all materials like house-hold items, furniture, windows, doors with door frames, collapsible shutters and whatever could be removed, carry it to the nearest Police Station and store in the open as a heap. I had seen such a heap in the premises of our neighbouring Police Station. I had also seen a raided house in our locality, which lost everything except the four walls & roof to the raiding party. I had heard from my colleagues that the tenant of an alleged scamster(in a suburb of Ranchi) suffered humiliation as all his belongings were taken away with his landlord's. My house was in a posh location, leased out to my employer by a medical Doctor. During my stay, another lady Doctor(colleague of the then landlord) acquired the house. Her husband incidentally was a Veterinary Doctor. The gentleman neighbour informed me that a police party was around our area making enquiries about our house. He reminded me that husband of my landlady worked in the Animal Husbandry Department and the enquiries might be part of investigations directed against him. He suggested that my wife and children, should be very careful when I was away from Home. ‘Doors should not be opened to any caller, lest they might get into trouble’, he said. I lost my peace once I heard the news. I was already under a transfer to Calcutta, and I wanted to get it changed to South. I desperately wanted to travel to Chennai to get some help regarding my transfer. But how dare I leave my family alone when threat of a raid was looming large? My wife could not converse in Hindi though she understood the language. My children were small and helpless. We did not have a residential phone connection at that time. I had good people around who could appreciate the serious situation and empathise with me. The risk of a raid was real. However I had no alternative but to continue in the haunted house because my days in Ranchi were numbered.

My Good Samaritan Bihari Friend (Homeopath) offered to have my family as his guests as long as we required. I made a phone call to a Senior IAS Officer (a Tamil) of the Bihar Cadre in Patna, advised him of the piquant situation in which I was placed and sought help. He made enquiries through his sources and assured me that there was no serious investigation against my landlady’s family members. He encouraged me to continue in the same house till I left the city. He advised me to call him in case of any problem. For further two months, I stayed in the same house and finally moved to Calcutta. But I suffered sleepless nights and anxiety even when I was in Office.

Thank God, I did not return to a home with no doors or windows; all pulled away by raiders. What a relief it was to finally get out of the place!