A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED.

My academic educational journey was eventful, unlike many of my fellow air warriors, who studied far more than me. Or, they may also have different interesting stories, which they don't want to expose in public due to inhibition.

This happened in 1980 in Gorakhpur, while I was doing MA( English)as a regular student at the University of Gorakhpur. The Bengali professor who was teaching the Shakespeare paper was staying with family in Mohaddipur, a small township near Airforce hospital. I requested him to give tuition for one or two hours a week to cover my deficiency in my few missing lectures. He was happy to help me without any hesitation, as a noble teacher like Dr. Radhakrisnan or Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who is ever remembered as the embodiment of teacher's nobility. But I had an obsession that what I should pay him back. Many noble persons, in my experience, wouldn't mind receiving a warrior's generous gift of one or two bottles secretly, ensuring utmost confidentiality. The fun is that they expect an offer from a warrior nothing other than this. But I knew that offering money or liquor to this exceptionally noble teacher was suicidal. So I bought a good sari for his wife and a shirt for him. He thankfully refused and the sari could be used by my wife but the shirt was too small for me and befitting for my younger brother.

There was an acute shortage of Kerosene oil in Gorakhpur, no idea if it was a national shortage. Middle and upper-class folks were not using firewood in the city. People were using the Kerosene stove alone or supplementary to the LPG gas stove. The cooking gas also was not abundantly available as today. I was living out without family for few months and was taking casual meals from airmen's mess as I had no time to prepare my food. Therefore, the ration was not drawn during this time.

During teaching, I overheard my teacher begging for kerosene oil from a black market dealer for a huge prize. I knew that my professor was struggling for kerosene to cook food for a family of eight members including his parents. He was well paid and was ready to pay any amount for kerosene oil, which was a dearth commodity. We living out people were getting a reduced quota of 10 liters of kerosene for one family, every month.

I took a ration of ten liters of kerosene from the ration stand. I did not ask the professor if I should bring it, because I knew that his decency would not permit me. I carried it in my cycle and reached his house and offered it as my" DAKSHINA".I said, "Sir, Please do not refuse, l know that you require it." His eyes filled with tears and glittered. He said, "Mr. Vincent, I will not refuse this as this is the most valuable item now for livelihood and not available anywhere.". He went inside and brought two hundred rupees and said, "You should not be at loss". I said, I paid only thirty rupees and showed him the bill and requested not to pay for this. He unwillingly agreed. I contributed ten liters of kerosene oil each month for three months. It was like the Dakshina of Ekalevya to Dronacharya. The only difference was that my Dakshina was not Guru's demanded Dakshina. So I honour my professor more than Dronacharya. I experienced his blessing in my Shakespeare paper in the final result. After three months kerosene oil was sufficiently available in public and my contribution was no more needed to him. But the relation built is lifelong. He always said "A friend in need is a friend indeed". I was a friend for him rather than a student by virtue being a thirty-year-old student among teenagers in the class. There are still more interesting events in connection with our friendship which will be narrated in the next episode.

Thank you