Harry Black And The Tiger

IIT Bombay was established in 1958. We were a hundred students selected on merit for the first batch from various prestigious universities of various states of India.

In the year it was established, its main building and student hostels were under construction at Powai. The Institute had hired a full floor of a huge building, Shiva-e-Namah, at Worli Naka in Bombay to provide residential accommodation to the students who had come from other states. It served as a hostel. A number of students had to be accommodated in each of its big rooms.

We were six students in my room, one each from Delhi, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Karnataka, and two from Uttar Pradesh. I was from Delhi, a Punjabi, migrated from West Punjab, whose parents had settled in Delhi after partition. We were all young and energetic. We soon developed a close bond of friendship amongst us.

We had a five-day week. On our weekdays, we were all engrossed in our studies, revising our daily lectures, doing our homework, and discussing difficulties in our curriculum. There was no room for extracurricular activities and games. To release our pent-up energies, we used to have pillow fights. My other friends from other rooms enjoyed participating in these fights.

I was very lean and thin in those days but had a very strong bone structure and good stamina. Most of the time, I used to be the winner in these pillow fights. I was nicknamed as "TEL PI HUYI LAKRI." It is a known fact that when soaked in mustard oil, the wood (LAKRI) becomes very strong and difficult to break.

My bones were being compared to that!

It is with great humility, as expressed in one of my previous stories, that Punjabis are known to be very strong, aggressive, and hardworking. They are very happy, fun-loving, welcoming, cool-headed, and proud people. They are also known to be very hospitable, warm, and lively. But they have a very special trait due to which they are usually misunderstood. They always speak out their minds without mincing words, to the point it might hurt someone and may be conceived as rude behavior.

I was always very polite and humble with my teachers and friends. But my friends knew that I would not tolerate any nonsense and misbehavior of any sort from any quarter, not even from my teachers. They were aware of the tiff I had with one of the professors who wanted to reprimand me for the wrong reason.

These were the traits for which I was popular (or unpopular!) on the campus.

One of my classmates, Tekal WishwaNath, was a great friend. He was a little DARK in complexion. Ours was a great companionship, well-known on the campus. Both of us were merit scholarship holders.

Being the first batch of IIT Bombay, we had enjoyed the best of both worlds. We had spent the first year at Worli Naka, the heart of Bombay, visiting its historical places, beautiful beaches, cinema halls, and last but not least, Worli Seaface, which was at a walking distance from our hostel. After our dinner, the walk on the Worli Seaface, with a cool breeze blowing, was always very exhilarating. The waves from the Arabian Sea striking the big rocks and the wall, making melodious noise, were always very soothing to the ears.

We moved to Powai in our second year. We enjoyed spending the next three years in the picturesque surroundings of Powai Lake.

Our four-year term was coming to an end. The final exams were approaching. It was time to bid goodbye to our Alma Mater.

A farewell party had been organized in the IIT Campus for the fourth-year students. The whole student community and staff were present at the ceremony.

In the verbal deliveries that followed by staff and students, old memories and dialogues were repeated. So was the promise to stay in touch.

It was now time to award TITLES to the outgoing students. Every one of us was being called on the stage to share the big surprise ahead.

Suddenly I heard my name, along with my friend Tekal WishwaNath being called out.

Holding our breath, we reached the stage. And we heard the loudspeakers blaring out, “Here come the 'HARRY BLACK AND THE TIGER'.”

Amid the great applause that followed, we left the stage waving to the crowd.

The TITLE further strengthened the bonds of friendship between the two of us. We saved the TITLE as mementos forever, as someday we might go down the memory lane and reflect on how the community saw us!

After the results, we all parted ways in the hope of a bright future for every one of us.

Years passed. As fate would have it, the communications between us got rarer and rarer. Some of us, however, used to meet occasionally at one another’s family functions.

A few years back, I heard with profound grief and sorrow, the news that my dear friend, Tekal WishwaNath, "THE HARRY BLACK," is no longer with us. He had passed away after a brief illness. The news of his passing away brought to my memory our great association of four years spent at IIT Bombay and beyond, like a screenshot. It brought to my mind the TITLE we had shared. I took out the memento and with folded hands, prayed to God that the departed soul may rest in peace.

Once again today, through this story in Story Mirror, dedicated to the memory of my great friend, I take this opportunity to pay my tributes to the departed soul and pray to God that “Harry Black’s” soul may rest in peace in his heavenly abode.