Father back from the dead as sons prepare for shradh

KOLKATA: Remember the Bollywood film Barah Anna, in which Naseeruddin Shah walked around with his own death certificate? Biswanath Das of Habra, North 24-Parganas, can do just that thanks to the efforts of his sons.
Das' sons, on their part, are finding it extremely difficult to live down their embarrassment. Anybody would, if his father were to turn up alive on the day of his own shradh.
While 65-year-old Das lived with his second wife at Habra, his three sons from his first wife Palas (35), Bappa (30) and Sukumar (27) had taken up residence at Kadambagachhi in Barasat.On Tuesday morning, Palas received a call from his father. Das said that he would be visiting the three brothers in the evening. In the afternoon, one of Palas's friends, Raju Das, informed him that Das was lying dead on a platform of the Ashoknagar railway station.
"Raju had received a call from someone that an elderly man had fallen out of a Bongaon-Sealdah local train after suffering a cardiac arrest. A bystander had searched the man's pocket and found Raju's mobile number and Palas' name on a piece of paper. The man had then called up Raju to inform him of the death," said Bappa.
Palas and his two brothers rushed to the station. They were accompanied by two other relatives. The body on the platform was of a man of the same age and build at that of Das. Identification was difficult as the man's skull and nose were shattered and his face smeared with blood. "It was difficult to make out the face clearly but we were overcome by grief and identified the body as that of our father's," said Palas.
Locals apparently told the brothers that they should not approach police as this would result in unnecessary hassle. The brothers took the body away and got a death certificate issued from a doctor they knew. They then took the body to the crematorium and performed the last rites. As the brothers did not share a good relationship with their stepmother, they did not even consider informing her.
Last rites performed, the brothers then prepared for the shradh, that was to be held next Tuesday. A decorator was asked to erect a pandal and relatives and friends were invited. The shocker came on Thursday evening, when one of Palas' maternal aunts called up to inform him that Das was alive. The brothers rushed to her place and found their father sitting on a chair. He was in no mood to speak to them, though and not without reason.
"It was extremely embarrassing. We should be rejoicing that our father is fine but we feel bad about the person we cremated in a hurry. His family members may never get to know of his fate," Palas said.