Though I had joined as PA to Mr CRM Rao, I worked more with Bijoy Babu (Bijoy Bhattacharya) who managed the production and distribution of China Report. It was a pleasant experience working with him. He was like a real dada (elder brother) to me. He was an expert in publishing. I used to proofread China Report with him. I believe it was due to my close association with him that I got interested in the editing and publishing fields. Bijoy Babu inspired me a lot. He used to tell me stories of his escapades when he had been young. Sometimes he used to drown in nostalgia. He never believed in the institution of library. His used to assert, ‘If you want to read a book, purchase it.’ Once I went to his single room residence in Gole Market and was astonished to find several thousands of books (must be 6000 to 7000) kept in almirahs, cots, and strewn on the floor. He said he had a bigger collection in Calcutta. He also did not read magazines or newspapers. He believed only in books, purchased books.
When we came down to the street, Bijoy Babu asked me, ‘Do you know what is Sandesh?’
I said, ‘Yes, message.’
He said, ‘No, no, not that sandesh. What is a Bengali Sandesh?’
I had no idea.
He said, ‘Come, I will show you.’
He then took me to the nearby Bengali Sweet Shop and treated fabulously with Sandesh, the most popular Bengali sweet.
When CSDS started publishing Alternatives: A Journal of World Policy in collaboration with the Institute for World Order, New York, I got associated with its subscription and distribution. Profs Rajni Kothari and Saul Mendlovitz edited the journal then. Mr MP Sinha was the Managing Editor. Mr MC Gabriel had worked for some time during the initial days, looking after the promotion of the journal. After his departure I looked after the whole affairs with the help of Mr PKK Namboodiri who then independently handled China Report’s subscription. Mr Girdhar Rathi joined later to oversee the promotion and distribution of the journal.
Dr Ramashray Roy was the Director during those days. During one of my initial days at the Centre, he called me to his room for some work. In the midst of the discussions, he wanted to ask something to Mr V Chadha, Accountant. He asked me to call Mr Chadha on the phone. I hadn’t heard the name before. I thought the name ‘Chadha’ was strange. ‘Chanda’ seemed more appropriate to me. And I asked for Mr ‘Chanda’. Dr Roy immediately corrected me, ‘Chadha, not Chanda’. And he made me pronounce the name correctly, which I did after a few attempts! When my father passed away two years later Dr Roy sent me a touching condolence message, which showed his concern for his younger colleagues. I was overwhelmed when I met with Dr Roy a few months ago at the Centre after a gap of several years.
I also served under the Directorship of the late Prof. Bashiruddin Ahmed, a down-to-earth and approachable person. He was always kind to everybody. He did not miss any chance to extend help to anybody, high or low. I am myself a beneficiary of his benevolence twice when I was in distress.
I was building my house in Sainik Nagar, near Uttam Nagar. All the money which I initially had, had been spent and I had started borrowing money from whomever I could. Ravi Raghavan, who worked in CSDS, had by then left the Centre and joined the Oriental Bank of Commerce, in the Connaught Circus branch. Ravi said the bank lent money without security, but at a higher interest rate and on production of a guarantee from the office. I sought Bashir Saheb’s help. He asked me to type out the guarantee on the Centre’s letterhead. He signed without even reading it.
When I handed him the office copy of the guarantee he said, ‘Keep it with you, in your file.’
I was confused, in my file?
He smiled and said, ‘Yes, I trust you’.
After a few months, on clearing the loan, I gave him a copy of the certificate from the Bank.
He said, ‘Yes, I knew there would not be any problem.’
He valued trust and confidence a lot more than written words.
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