Madhusudan_Das

88 Madhusudan Das :
(b) Car Incident :—
The new Capital Roads were a beauty, one day I felt tempted
to take out my car and have a good run. I spent an enjoyable hour
without any accident. The report was sent to my father at Ranchi that
his daughter was seen driving a cat without a license and politely
suggested my taking a license. I produced my Cuttack license and
there the matter ended.
(c) Rendering help to my father :—
Some of the Oriya gentlemen working in the Secretariat and
P.W.D. thought that my father being an Oriya would always help them
with good post without regard to their efficiency. It was decided by
Government that one of the head assistants of the P.W.D. should be
taken as an Assistant Secretary, instead of an outsider. One Bengali
and one Oriya Head Clerk applied for the post. The Oriya Clerk was
sure of getting the post as he thought that when my father made it
the mission of his life to help the Oriya people for their upliftment,
he must have it. The Oriya clerk came to me and asked me to help
him. I readily consented and approached my father. My father said
nothing, but brought two files from the office, gave them to me to
go through them carefully and then tell him what my decision was.
I was surprised and felt quite proud of the confidence reposed on me.
1 studied the file carefully and found that the Oriya clerk was regular
in attendance but very slow. The Bengali clerk though not so regular
in attendance, was good at his work and could do double the amount
of work done by the other. So naturally I decided in favour of the
Bengali clerk and my father said "You have done well." Many a time
my father consulted me about important cases, as he knew that I mixed
with all classes of people and could give him many useful information,
which helped him to do justice in many cases.
(d) Sonepur Mela :—
The Sonepur Mela is a great annual festivity in Bihar. It takes
place in the full moon in the month of November at Sonepur. People
from all over India are gathered there. All sorts of things are found
in the Mela, especially animals and birds which are brought there
for sale. My father being the Minister of Health had to go on the
previous day to see to the arrangements. Some of my friends, officials
and non-officials, both husband and wife, wanted to see the Mela and