looking after the vip
the practice is, revenue officers were supposed to look after them. and they did.
by way of reference, katni is an important junction. it was the doorway to what is now chhattisgarh. but in sixties, the area was part of madhya pradesh. trains to the region would halt at kani for change of direction and most of them reached katni at breakfast time or dinner time. so it was regaular practice for revenue officers to arrange breakfast or dinner.
once r g tiwari, a minister, halted at katni for changing trains. and, as per the practice, was served. he had become a minister recently. as he was leaving, his PA asked for the bill. i told him that there is no payment. he insisted saying that minister wanted to settle all dues and leave nothing unpaid. i told the naib tehsildar in charge j k dube to give the bill. dube asked "how much?" and i told him whatever he had spent. so a bill for rs. 29 ( a big sum in sixties) was handed over. seeing this the PA said that in all other location, bill was for rupee one or two. so i said that it is the actual amount and i have already told him that there is 'poor minister relief fund' to take care of the bills so he did not have to pay. PA stormed out with minister in tow saying that he will send the money from bhopal.
needless to say we never heard from him or the minister again.
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