August 30, 2003....The premonition...
The sky, grey and dull, clouds
sombre, not a leaf fluttering, no chirping of birds, as though the whole world
had come to a grinding halt, foretelling the story about to unfold...
A posse of policemen
accompanied by the officers of the Central Bureau Of Investigation stood before
“Athithi”, house #26. The siren of the police jeep was wailing, and the
intensity of sound getting amplified by the minute. Hosts of media personnel stood
with DSLRs and mikes, ever ready to set the camera rolling and to give the
breaking news. Curious onlookers on tree branches, on rooftops and on the
street jostling with each other to catch a glimpse of the fallen hero and
smacking their lips at the sudden action in their own adda!
The cops had the arrest warrant
ready when they knocked on the door. Amma was shell shocked at the unexpected
visitors and muttered
“Look Police”... “Krishna,
Krishna”...she called for divine intervention.
The officers were least bothered
about expressions and reactions and with a swift wave of the warrant said
“We have come to arrest him and this
is the warrant.”
Appa just followed them as if in a
trance. The shutter bugs clicked nonstop to their hearts’ content, savouring
each moment, covering different angles; some journos got sound bites from the
officers in khaki who were only too eager to hog the limelight!
Appa sat in the vehicle dazed.
He looked at amma and gestured with the hand showing as if making a call and
mumbled
“call Ganesh and arrange a lawyer”
The neighbourhood was abuzz
with all sorts of stories, each of them having a field day weaving tales of
yarn, concocting stories and ridiculing my poor appa. A couple of good
Samaritans had the courage to take amma inside and console her. Amma, brave
that she was quickly composed herself and called Appa’s nephew Ganesh, who was
a well known Doctor. He immediately plunged into action and arranged for a
lawyer and the surety money as well as couple of witnesses. As this was being
done, Amma called me and burst into sobs.
“Vishalam....Appa has been arrested and taken to jail”
A bolt from the blue hit me hard and
I was dumbfounded and “Whhhaaat” was all I could say. She started narrating the
sequence of events....
I pacified amma to the best of my
ability as the situation first warranted that action, even as a million
thoughts raced through my mind.
“Everything will be all right, calm down, I am coming there by the next
flight”. I also talked to her close friend, confidant and man Friday, who was like
a “chithi” to me.
“Lalitha Chithi...please take
care of amma, I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”
The flight AC 107
screeched to a roaring halt at the Nedumbassery runway, rudely jolting me from
my miseries, questioning mind and helplessness. The air outside was sultry and
humid. I flagged a cab and reached home much to the relief of my amma. Hugging
her in a tight embrace, we calmed each other. Choking with emotion, she
recounted the dramatic turn of events in one single breath, gasping for air and
her mouth going dry.
The CBI had arrested appa along with
nine others, all former employees of CF ltd.,charging them with fraud and
cheating, claiming that they had awarded contract to one particular vendor for
transportation of liquefied ammonia for some benefit. They purported that these
officers had intentionally approved the name of M/S XY barges and shipping co. and
connived with the vendor for quid pro quo thereby cheating the company of many
crores of rupees.
“what nonsense”, I exclaimed and sat stupefied, here were the police
arresting a set of people for an action that had been taken jointly with the
approval of the core of ministers, way back in the 1990’s! My mind raced back
in time, the floodgates of memories opened up and I reminisced the golden era
of CF days! Nostalgia.....and ouch...it really hurt!
April, 1, 1967.... Prologue....
Appa, an all India rank holder in the ACA examination joined CF
ltd., a huge public sector undertaking as a young accounts officer, overcoming
the barriers of class, reservation, minority etc.etc..It was a humungous
organization with over 8000 odd employees. Set up by a visionary, this company
made fertilizers and chemicals and had multiple divisions such as design, engineering
works and a caprolactam plant.
December
03, 1967...A milestone...
He married amma, a Bombay bred girl
on this day, that marked a lovely innings of a city girl adjusting to the life
of a small nondescript town in the southern part of India. But she quickly
adapted to the new lifestyle like duck to water. I was born the next year much
to the joy and happiness of appa, who simply adored me. I was the apple of his
eyes and he my super hero! Days turned
into months and into years and we enjoyed the cocooned comforts of township life.
Appa, slogged day in and day out at the office for all he was worth, burning
the midnight oil during times of auditing and closing of accounts. He was
dedicated, determined and faithfully carried out his duty to be worthy of the
salary that he drew which was anything but princely!
Soon, the family of three had an
addition and my sibling was only too happy to share the unadulterated fun and
frolic of childhood days! In the same year, Appa’s congenital heart problem
resurfaced and he suffered from palpitation and shortness of breath. India, in
those days, was not so medically advanced to treat his rare disease and we had
to look up to the United Kingdom for surgery which was a very costly option.
But CF ltd. came to dad’s rescue like a knight in shining armour and supported
in every possible way. The company and his bosses were guardian angels and they
left no stone unturned to give him a fresh lease of life. Thus Appa escaped
from the jaws of death by a proverbial hair’s breadth! Rejuvenated and
energetic like never before, Appa soon resumed his duties but this time more
gratefully and working harder as a payback to the company that had done so much
for him. He put in longer hours of work and soon climbed the ladder of
corporate success. He ethically followed the “work is worship” concept while we
children made merry at home, at school and at the club.
The township was huge, spread across
acres of land and had everything beautifully planned, laid out and integrated
within. The magnificent gate manned by the Central Industrial Security Force
was a sight to behold. The quarters, differing in size, but not in colour or
shape, had colonial appearances and were homes to a mammoth 5000 employees.
These bungalows had all the convenience one could ask for; free accommodation,
free water and electricity, intercom facility, huge backyards with mango,
jackfruit and guava trees that bore luscious fruits all year round. The gated
community, a buzz word, these days was already there replete with tarred and
well lit roads, parks with play things, playgrounds by the dozen, schools
catering to different curriculum and boards such as SSLC and ICSE, a medical
centre in a rounded building, a magnificent recreation club, guest house and
the imposing factory at the centre of it all.
My alma mater, the famed CF public
school following the ICSE pattern was a home away from home, a knowledge hub
with dedicated teachers who taught us the rudiments of learning and a grooming
centre for sports, games, arts, music and dance and each of us excelled in
these disciplines. I have spent the best days of my carefree life here winning
many coveted trophies and sobriquets too!
The recreation club was imperial and
smashing and the English language is too dwarfed to describe this opulent
heaven. It has a snooker and billiards room, a cards room, a swimming pool with
different depths and a diving board, an open air stage, a fabulous badminton
court where many a national level games were played, a superb tennis court of
clay, ping pong tables, a video parlour and a food court. We have spent hours
in the swimming pool with tadpoles for company and enjoyed the rocking music
concerts of wood stock, the slapstick comedy of Laurel and Hardy and Charlie
Chaplin brought alive on big screen much to the amusement of giggly gals and
boisterous boys.
The medical facility extended by the
hospital in the premises was a boon to all the staff and their families and it
came absolutely free.CF ltd. had made our lives happy go lucky! Free
accommodation, free medical facility, free recreation and free schooling; what
more could we ask?
And it gave me my appa as a honest and
upright officer who always walked the talk. Be it the use of utilities provided
or the car facility with a driver or the gardener to tend to our lovely garden,
Appa ensured that he never misused any of them and always led his humble and
down to earth life. Even Amma sometimes got carried away with some of the
facilities extended and at times, waited for the driver to open the door and
wait on her much to Appa’s dislike. He always adhered to principles and upheld the
high moral ground. His hard work paid him rich dividends and soon he was
promoted as senior deputy general manager.
September 07, 1995....The core of the
matter...
The
nine member standing committee headed by the director of finance submitted the
report to the Chairman and managing director and the core group comprising of
the group of ministers. This committee was instituted to be in charge of
advertisement of tenders for transport of liquefied ammonia, receipt of sealed
tenders, receipt of demand drafts as surety money, background checking and
verification of financial viability and other key aspects that go into the
requirements to meet the criteria. Among various bidders, M/S XY barges and
shipping co. who had a good track record and had successfully accomplished
businesses in similar fields and financially strong was shortlisted mainly for
the quote of a tender price of Rs.1400/- per metric tonne of transporting the
required quantity. The committee after further rounds of meetings called the
vendor for negotiations.
Standing committee (SC) : “So
Mr. Aziz, what is the best price you are
offering us?”
Mr. Aziz, (MD of XY)
: “See, after careful
consideration of the capital
cost and working cost requirements, the
final rate can be Rs.1200/-per MT but not
below that as it would not be viable.
Member, SC : “what about night navigation?” We have
received a no objection from the pollution
board and the port trust for night
navigation.”
Mr. Aziz : “I was about to suggest that, we could add
night navigation as a bonus service without
any additional rates.”
Member, SC : “All right MR. Aziz,
let us discuss and get it
across to our
core group for final approval and
we will soon let you know of the outcome.”
Mr. Aziz : “Thank you, Ladies and gentlemen, I shall be
waiting eagerly for a positive response from
the company.”
Mr.Aziz leaves the conference hall
and the members discuss among themselves.
“Looks like it’s a fair deal, the
price quoted seem to be ok but with night navigation included, the target of
transportation on the required quantity can be reached, also new barges and
containers have been acquired by them so safety is taken care of.”
“Anyway let us put this across to
the group of ministers and get their inputs and feedback.”
The committee then submitted all
the relevant documents with documents to support and the demand draft for the
final nod. The core group sat and deliberated and gave the final assent in a
few days time and the contract was awarded to M/S XY barges and shipping. The
decision on selecting this contractor had thus gone through the diligent
process of all necessary approvals and there were never any quid pro quo
benefits in this.
It was business as usual and
appa put in 38 years in CF ltd. , a dedicated yeoman service and demitted his
office in the year 1998 as General Manager, corporate affairs. It was a sad
moment for all of us, we had reaped the rich harvest of CF ltd. and the time
had come to say goodbye to a life of goodness.
The shrill ringing of the telephone jerked me
from my contented past, to the appalling and scandalous present. Things had
gone topsy- turvy and tumultuous; the man who had honesty and integrity as his
second name was now behind bars, squatting on the hard ground – what an irony!
The caller was my cousin, who assured me that the witnesses and the surety
money had been arranged and that he was going with the lawyer to secure the
release of my dear appa. Within a couple of hours, there was relief and
optimism – we saw a faint light at the end of the dark tunnel. Appa was set
free albeit with strings attached. He must present himself at the court every
week for signing to mark his presence, and his passport was retained by the
authorities so that he could not leave the country.
Back home after the terrible ordeal to a man who knew no greed; we felt
the worst nightmare was over. A stream of visitors came in like a swarm of
bees, some lending a shoulder to him, a few keen to know about the conspiracy,
the heroes and villains in the story. But some were as stinging as the bees
with the sole purpose of rubbing salt on the wounds.
“Enna saar, did they serve you gruel
in jail?” remarked this dastardly person and we were shattered beyond words.
Appa took it in his stride and jokingly remarked,
“Yes Rajan, that too in aluminium
bowl but I must say that the porridge was tasty!”
We all returned to our respective
domains, continuing with our mundane lives and the hardship causing episode was
forgotten. Appa took up teaching and became engrossed in his new avatar.
However, the frequent ‘hearings’ on the case and the adjournments were grim
reminders of the harsh reality. The exorbitant fees of the lawyers had drained
his resources, the never ending summons and standing in the witness box had
eroded him physically. A couple of his co accused could not bear the trauma and
gave up, sacrificing their lives. But Appa endured them all and never faltered
till the day of judgement.
May 22, 2015....Epilogue ....judgement day...
The
court had a packed house with the accused and their family members waiting with
bated breath and finally the hour of verdict had arrived.
The High Court judge pronounced the
verdict..there was pin drop silence, only the heavy breathing of the people
could be heard. He read thus:
“The charges levelled against the
nine ex officers of CF ltd. who have been charged with conspiring with the vendor
to cheat the company under section 27 (d) of the IPC is baseless and there is
no evidence to this effect. I pronounce all of them including Mr. Aziz, not
guilty of any crime or wrong doing or fraud. There has been undue haste
on the part of CBI in levelling the charges on the officers who have put their
heart and soul to the company. ....” and he read on. There was a collective
sigh of relief, a sense of euphoria and the family members cheered at the final
judgement. I could see triumph on my appa’s face, his good action before
prayers had been finally answered. I saluted my hero, applauded him from the
bottom of my heart and felt immensely proud to be his daughter. Justice was
given to a humble soul who had no enemies, no avarice, and no malice; who was
transparent, open and contented. What lay behind him paled in comparison to
what was inside him and
I recalled Martin Luther King’s famous words;
“We must accept
finite disappointment,
But we must
never lose infinite hope.”
