Stay good, Samaritans

dear residents of hriday banerjee first bylane, howrah, what you have done is right out of a bengali movie of the fifties. no, it's even better. you have not only shown your humane feelings but also a lot of practical sense, and given a young couple a bright start to their life's journey. it's people like you who teach us that though much may be wrong with this world, all is not lost.but the story first. we read the first one in the papers a couple of days earlier which was interesting, though for different reasons. jhuma ghosh, a resident of your bylane, was getting married to a man, but halfway through, the barber (necessary at bengali weddings) dropped a bomb. the bridegroom, he declared, already had three wives and was taking a fourth one. the police stopped the wedding and took the man away who confessed, according to reports, that he was searching for a wife — after his heart — or some such nonsense. he went to the lock-up but poor jhuma was in a desperate situation. she had become what is known in traditional terms as lagnabhrashta, a girl no one would marry. for her struggling father, this was a terrible blow. then you took over. the bravehearts of the south bantra byabsayee samity met the officer-in-charge of bantra thana and decided to look for a young man who would be gallant enough to marry jhuma. they descended on sankar adhikari, an employee in a hawker's stall. sankar lives in a broken hut and can hardly afford a wife. but he agreed to do the rescue act, and his mother approved. so far, the story may be interpreted as one of impromptu good samaritanism and bengali sentimentalism. but dear reader, hold on. the first bylaners raised rs 20,000, decided to give the couple a small plot of land, and the samity decided to help him set up his own shop. this reads like a fable. sankar's large-heartedness deserves admiration, but that so many got together to do so much for two people is what holds out hope for perhaps all of us. that shows it was not just a mindless burst of do-good enthusiasm, but a sincere effort to help. that if there are enough of us wanting something good to happen, it will happen. and that the police can not only make lathi-charges but also help a poor girl find a husband, and rescue her parents from a major crisis. reports say the gloom has lifted from first bylane, and the atmosphere in sankar's house is festive. the boubhat is to be celebrated in real earnest. wish i were there! bibhuti bhusan bandopadhyay's apu married aparna in similar circumstances. her was-to-be husband turned out to be mentally deranged and the ceremony ended in a fiasco. apu, not in good circumstances, refused first when to rescue the lagnabhrashta girl, but had second thoughts. i wouldn't stretch the comparison further, for they didn't live long together. for jhuma and sankar, let's chant the line that folk tales ended with: they lived happily ever after! and to you, the great people of hriday banerjee first bylane, my salute ! why aren't there more like you?