Mrinal Kumsar Biswas
The icy hand of death has been laid on Sudhakar Prabhudesai. It was a cruel joke that he could not leave this world peacefully. I was told excruciating sufferings awaited him before he breathed his last. Sudhakar did not deserve that. I knew him for decades, he never caused pain to anybody, not even to anyone in the other animate world. It struck me odd that anybody coming east to Kolkata (then Calcutta) and seeing handpulled rickshaws fell terribly upset by seeing the plight of the hired men weaving through city streets with their carriages occupied by any of his kindred spirits. Man-pulled rickshaws were long back imitation vehicles of Japan and hardly affected our Calcuttans’ sensibilities. Sudhakar felt repulsed. But this same friend of mine enlivened spirits of me Calcuttan when, in one of the heydays of loadsheddings (power-offs), he sat with me to take food in the evening under the light of candles. He smiled widely and said it was indeed a candle-lit dinner. We the host couple were relieved.
I met him in the late 60s of the last century at Ranchi at a meeting of the country’s young socialists. My other Calcutta colleague was Biswanth Haldar. Sudhakar came with Vijaya Pingle to represent Bombay (now Mumbai). Two Bombaiwallas and me Calcuttan became friends. This friendship expanded with others becoming part of the group in the course of time. Moreover, my link with Janata weekly solidified because Sudhakar was an important editorial board member. Despite the long distance, this group of people kept in touch and even visits took place both ways. During the emergency, I met Sudhakar in a Bombay jail and my last meeting was while I on a reporter’s journey halted at Bombay in the late 1980s. He grew long hairs and looked further emaciated.
Sudhakar Prabhudesai had a scintillating mind, was well versed, a good conversationalist and a good friend. His passing away means a part of myself is gone. I know his family members will find it difficult to a life without him. I also know that there are many others who share their deep sense of loss.
