A Suitable Boy(625)
The night had become bitterly cold. Firoz stopped, and walked, and stopped again. The mist thinned out here and there, then wound itself around him. The shawl was soaked in blood. His thoughts, his pain, the mist all dispersed and concentrated about him as if at random. His hands were wet with blood where he had clutched his side. The walking-stick slipped in his hand. He did not know if he would be able to get home like this. And if he got home, he thought, how could he bear to look at his father’s old and beloved face?
He had hardly walked a hundred yards when he felt that he would not be able to make it. The loss of blood, the physical pain, and the terrible thoughts that oppressed his mind had brought him almost to collapse. A tonga loomed up out of the mist. He raised his stick and tried to hail it, and collapsed onto the pavement.
17.14
IT WAS a quiet night at the Pasand Bagh Police Station, and the station house officer, who was a Sub-Inspector, was yawning, writing up reports, drinking tea, and cracking jokes with his subordinates.
‘This is a very subtle one, Hemraj, so listen carefully,’ he addressed a writer-constable who was making an entry in the daily diary. ‘Two masters each said that their servant was stupider than the other’s. So they had a bet. One summoned his servant and said: “Budhu Ram, there’s a Buick for sale in a shop on Nabiganj. Here is ten rupees. Go and buy it for me.” So Budhu Ram took the ten rupees and went out.’
A couple of the constables burst out laughing, and the Sub-Inspector shut them up. ‘I have hardly begun telling you the joke and you idiots start braying. Shut up and listen… So the other master said: “You may think that’s stupid, but my servant, Ullu Chand, is even stupider. I’ll prove it.” He summoned Ullu Chand and said: “Now look here, Ullu Chand, I want you to go to the Subzipore Club and see if I’m there. It’s urgent.” Ullu Chand immediately went off to do as he was told.’
The constables started laughing uncontrollably. ‘See if I’m there -’ one said, rolling about. ‘See if I’m there.’
‘Shut up, shut up,’ said the Sub-Inspector. ‘I haven’t finished.’ The constables promptly shut up. The Sub-Inspector cleared his throat. ‘On the way, one servant met the other and said –’
A bewildered tonga-wallah entered the room, and mumbled, in obvious distress: ‘Daroga Sahib –’
‘Oh, shut up, shut up,’ said the Sub-Inspector genially. ‘So one servant met the other and said: “I say, Ullu Chand, my master is a complete idiot. He gave me ten rupees and told me to buy a Buick. But doesn’t he know that today is Sunday and the shops are closed?” ’
At this point everyone burst out laughing, including the Sub-Inspector himself. But he hadn’t finished yet, and, when the laughter had died down, he continued: ‘And the other servant said: “Well, that may be stupid, Budhu Ram, but it’s nothing compared to the idiocy of my master. He asked me to find out urgently if he was at the club. But if it was so urgent, why didn’t he simply go to the other room and use the telephone?” ’
At this the entire room resounded with hoots and shrieks of laughter, and the Sub-Inspector, very pleased, took a loud sip of tea, some of which wet his moustache. ‘Yes, what do you want?’ he said, noticing the tonga-wallah, who appeared to be trembling.
‘Daroga Sahib, there’s a body lying on the pavement on Cornwallis Road.’
‘It’s a bad night. Must be some poor fellow who’s succumbed to the cold,’ said the Inspector. ‘But Cornwallis Road?’
‘He’s alive,’ said the tonga-wallah. ‘He tried to hail me, then collapsed. He’s covered in blood. I think he’s been stabbed. He looks as if he’s from a good family. I didn’t know whether to leave him or to bring him – to go to the hospital or the police. Please come quickly. Did I do the right thing?’
‘You idiotl’ cried the Sub-Inspector. ‘You’ve been standing here all this while. Why didn’t you speak earlier?’ He addressed the others: ‘Get some bandages. And you, Hemraj, phone the government doctor at the night clinic. Get the police kit together quickly, and bring a couple of extra torches. And you’ – he addressed the tonga-wallah – ‘come with us and show us where he’s lying.’
‘Did I do the right thing?’ asked the tonga-wallah fearfully.
‘Yes, yes, yes – you didn’t disturb him, did you?’
‘No, Daroga Sahib, I just turned him over to see – to see, well, if he was alive.’