A Long Day's Night

by Ruskin Bond

  The sun was quite high now, and Virendra could see increasing numbers of people walking and bicycling across his field of vision from various directions. Virendra had almost lost sense of time. He could see now that besides workers, students had started coming in from the area visible under the lecture hall complex, through the southwestern gate. Virendra had now four research students in his laboratory at various stages of their work. Like Virendra they also had been anxiously looking forward to this day; for many things they shared a common fate. Supervisor and student always had it that way; but in this case there was a dominant element of unhappiness and pathos.

  The quality and the nature of the graduate students in the university were considerably different from the undergraduates in this place. At one time, at the inception of the university, it used to attract top graduates of other institutions, and both graduate teaching and research programmes used to be demanding. At that time this being a new university, in terms of research equipment it was far ahead of most other universities. That also was an added attraction. That meant opportunity to work in newer research areas not at that time available elsewhere. Time had changed all that. Over the years, there had been a number of other universities where equipment availability had improved substantially, and the unimaginative and non-enterprising administration of this university had not been able to keep up its lead. This reduced the number of top-ranking students seeking admission here. Rather than travel across the country they now preferred to stay in their own regional universities or research institutions. Also, there had been a global slump of good students going for postgraduate education and research; many of them sought and got good jobs soon after their first degree. In the third-world countries there had been an additional factor: massive loss of bright and even not-so-bright undergraduate science and engineering students to the universities of western countries. That was a matter of concern for quite a number of years, but now the situation had become such, that it had become impossible to run first rate postgraduate programmes. Virendra had had top level students, but the level had slumped. Ironically it was now when the facilities were deteriorating that the difficulties multiplied. As a result, the progress was slow, the output was less.

  Virendra could just spot one of them walking towards the main building under the catwalk chatting with two other graduate students. There was tremendous fellow feeling among the students, although the graduate and the undergraduate students did not mix with each other very much. The graduate students were not expected to promptly report at the laboratories at any specific time, but most did turn up by nine-thirty. But today, Virendra expected that his students would show up well before that and would pray for a good day.

  THREE

  VIRENDRA WAS SITTING ON HIS CHAIR IN HIS OFFICE ROOM looking at some papers, when slowly the door opened and the moustached face of A. K. Agarwal of Crescent Instruments and then his entire body appeared.

  'Good morning. Professor Chauhan, may we come in?' A full salesman smile was on Agarwal's face. His thinning hair was neatly pressed in place and seemed still damp. He was dressed in a light striped shirt and brown trousers, and had a brown leather portfolio bag in his hand. Right behind him was a tall and handsome young western gentleman, who Virendra guessed was from overseas MatTech.

  'Of course,' Virendra looked towards the door, and got up from his chair, 'I was expecting you. Please come in.'

  Both the visitors entered the room. 'This is Dr Mark Brennan, from MatTech, our principals overseas,' Agarwal said looking at Brennan. He set his gaze on Brennan's eyes, and then turning to Virendra, added, 'Professor Chauhan.'

  'Hello,' Brennan said pleasantly, bending forward a bit, and extending his right hand towards Virendra. On his left hand hung a rather heavy brief case.

  'How do you do,' Virendra said as he shook his hand looking pleasantly at Brennan's face, and felt the largeness of the visitor's hand relative to his own. Showing the chairs on the other side of the desk, he added, 'Do sit down.'

  Both Agarwal and Brennan walked to the other side of the desk and took seats in front of Virendra. Brennan sat to Virendra's right and Agarwal to the left.

  While it was Brennan he was curious about, Virendra looked at Agarwal and asked, 'How did you travel? Did you take the morning flight from Delhi?'

  'Yes, doctor saab, we took the flight. Fortunately, it came on time today.'

  'How did you come from the airport? If I had known your travel plans earlier, I could have arranged some transport.'

  'Oh no, doctor saab, thank you. It was no problem. We took a taxi straight from the airport.'

  'Where are you staying? Would you be in a hotel in the city, or should we make some arrangement on campus?'

  'No, doctor saab. There is no problem. Dr Brennan has to return to Delhi by the evening flight. We have kept the taxi here. We will go straight to the airport from here.'

  Virendra did not like this statement a bit. In fact some blood rushed to his head. But he controlled himself and appeared calm; he refrained from responding to Agarwal's statement. He turned to Brennan, and asked, 'Did you have a pleasant flight, Dr Brennan?'

  'Oh yes, thank you. Except that we had to get up at four in the morning, everything was fine. Was pleased that it is summer now. I was told that despite efforts, during the winters the flight often does not take off until midday; and sometimes it is cancelled then if the fog does not let up.'

  Virendra was studying Brennan's face and trying to guess what could be deep inside his mind, and was listening only with half attention. In that same vein, Virendra asked, 'Is this your first visit to this country?'

  'Yes, very much so. I joined the company recently. I hope though that there will be many more occasions,' Brennan replied quite properly.

  Virendra guessed that Brennan's age would be somewhere in the thirties, many years his junior. He supposed that he could ask some more polite questions as part of the introduction and also to assess his professional personality. Virendra said, 'I am sure about that. Where were you before you joined MatTech? Where did you do your doctoral degree?'

  'I am rather straight from college.' There was a sparkle in Brennan's intent and intelligent eyes. 'I wrote a thesis in Cambridge. I did some work on electron microscopy, and had done a fair amount of instrumentation. I was quite exhausted doing all that academic work, so decided to spend some time in a commercial organisation. And MatTech was looking for a person with my background.'

  Virendra felt a liking for Brennan. Perhaps in any other circumstance he would have liked to be friendly with him. But the occasion of this meeting had a long entangled history fraught with bitterness. Surely Brennan would have been adequately briefed by his company about that aspect and a stern attitude might emerge from him even though it was not his own. Virendra decided to ignore his emotional reaction and consider the meeting as one of pure business. But he did not have to immediately plunge into the complexities; it could be postponed as long as it was possible, if not for ever.

  'Which is your home town?'

  'Newmarket.'

  'Well, that is not far from Cambridge.'

  'Yes. However, my family lived in London for a long time. So part of my growing up was there.'

  'That must be quite an experience. I grew up in Calcutta. Regardless of how badly people think of that place, I think it is a great city.'

  Brennan did not respond. He directed a mildly pleasant gaze on Virendra's face. Agarwal had been keeping quiet with a trace of smile straining his cheek muscles. Everyone at the table knew that the game was a different one than that being posed, but it seemed the visitors had decided to let the local participant call the moves.

  After a moment's pause, Virendra decided to change the topic. He looked at Agarwal, then at Brennan, and asked, 'Well, have you had some breakfast? Should I arrange for something? And how about lunch?'

  'No, doctor saab, there is no need.' Agarwal quickly responded, 'In Delhi airport lounge we had a good breakfast. And Dr Brennan is no
t eating much; he is not feeling quite fit after the long travel.'

  'Yes, that is correct. I would rather totally skip the lunch, or do with a couple of sandwiches.'

  'Well, that can be arranged. What would you like to have with your sandwiches? Tea? Coffee? Or some soft drink?'

  'Tea would be fine. I am quite fond of tea.'

  'All right, I will arrange that. I will call home for some sandwiches and tea. Mr Agarwal, will that do for you also?'

  'Yes, doctor saab, that will be fine. But please don't bother, we can go out and find something for ourselves.'

  'No, no. It is no problem. The real problem is the instrument. I hope before you leave, the instrument becomes operational.' Virendra introduced the topic of business. He said 'before you leave' and not 'before you leave today,' because somehow he felt that it was impossible to rectify the malfunction and test it satisfactorily in one day.

  'Yes,' Brennan responded. 'we sincerely hope so.'

  'Dr Brennan, may I ask how much you know about the status of the instrument, since you were not with MatTech when the instrument was designed and delivered?' Virendra asked Brennan pointedly.

  'Well, according to the brief I have received,' Brennan responded promptly and plainly without any touch of emotion, 'MatTech designed and delivered an instrument according to your specifications. During the installation, you told Mr Stafford, who showed you the operation, that you were generally satisfied with the performance except that you desired a better resolution following the reactive mode. Accordingly MatTech thought it could provide some augmentation, and decided to provide an additional lens, which I am going to install.'

  Virendra had anticipated that MatTech would adopt such a tough approach, so he was not quite shocked at Brennan's statement. He was unhappy with the thought, however, that the prospect of jointly working out a prompt solution did not seem to be so near. He listened to Brennan with concentration, and then when Brennan was through, he responded, with an equal lack of emotion, 'That is not quite correct. It is true, however, that part of the instrument is working, but that is from the standpoint of an instrumentation engineer. We specified a set of terminal specifications; none of them is satisfied. As a customer, we are only concerned with that.'

  Brennan probably did not expect such a pointed contradiction and contest. From his reaction it seemed that he was not sure whether he should pursue and press his official stand, or he should give Virendra more scope to elaborate. He asked in the form of a polite cross-examination, 'Did you not then comment that part of the instrument was operating satisfactorily?'

  'Yes,' Virendra felt that he was making progress, 'that was about the functional aspects of parts of the instrument. It had nothing to do with the performance of the total instrument. In fact, I wrote about this aspect clearly on the piece of paper Mr Stafford was carrying back.'

  'My understanding is quite different.' Brennan seemed to decide that he would delay a charge should that be necessary. 'However, since I am physically here, perhaps the first thing we should do is to take a look at the instrument. We could then take up formal matters.'

  'That is absolutely fine with me,' Virendra responded. From his standpoint also he would like a technical person from MatTech to devote as much time as possible to the instrument; such visits were so rare. 'I suppose that as you examine the instrument, you yourself will be in a position to judge whether it is in a state to deliver the performance specifications as required,' Virendra added.

  'Sure. I am ready to look at it,' Brennan responded.

  'Let us go then to the laboratory. But before that excuse me for a minute. Let me make a phone call to check that the students have come. They should have by now.' Virendra got up from his chair saying this; the visitors nodded. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him softly; to make a phone call he must go to the Department office down the corridor.

  Virendra returned a few minutes later and said, 'Well, they are there. We can go.'

  'That is marvellous, let us go,' Brennan responded and got up from his chair. So did Agarwal.

  Virendra let the visitors go out of the door first, then he got out and pulled the door firmly. The door closed and the latch clicked and locked it. 'This way,' Virendra took a step to the right on the corridor. Brennan and Agarwal followed.

  The air was quite warm now, yet it was only nine in the morning. As Virendra started walking, he said addressing Brennan mainly, 'Summer is rather an inhospitable time here, otherwise you could go around the campus to look at the place. And also the students are not here, now that the academic session is over.' Then pausing and pointing to the far left through the opening at the balcony, Virendra added, 'That is the lecture hall complex where large classes meet. Small classes meet in various buildings. This building we are in houses mostly faculty and administrative offices. The laboratory is in another building. We go down there.' They had reached the fourth floor landing.

  To the left were openings for two lifts; one with a collapsible metal bar door, and the other had been broken open for installing a new one. There was a heap of rubble in front of the latter. To the right was the staircase. Virendra started going down; Brennan and Agarwal followed. As they were walking down the first flight of stairs, a two-storey building became visible towards the north. Virendra pointed a finger towards it and said, 'We have to go to that building.'

  On the third floor landing there was a similar heap of rubble in front of one of the lift doors. The place was dusty and dirty. Towards one corner near the staircase, there was a stray piebald dog curled up and sleeping. He probably knew well how hot the forthcoming midday would be, and had taken advance steps of refuge.

  They had to go a couple of more flights down the staircase to reach the second floor. At the second floor landing there was an opening to the right. They went through it; a few steps down on either side one would be right on the catwalk – one going to the side of the lecture hall complex, the other to the two-storey building to the north. They turned right, went a few steps down, and headed towards the latter.

  They walked side by side in fairly rapid strides, Virendra at the centre, Brennan to his right and Agarwal to his left. Virendra was saying, 'Laboratories are scattered all over the academic area, and not all of them in an organised pattern. In the building we are going to, the undergraduate science laboratories are downstairs. Upstairs are some research laboratories. One of them is ours.'

  They reached the end of the catwalk. They went up a few steps and were on the upper floor of the two-storey building. Virendra turned right on the corridor; Brennan and Agarwal followed him. The corridor had much accumulated dust and dirt and it was obvious that it had not been cleaned for days.

  The corridor was rather dark and both its sides were lined with all kinds of wooden and steel cabinets and cupboards of every description. They were kept on the corridor by the faculty to make more space inside their laboratories. The only gaps at the left and the right were where the doors were. On some doors the type of laboratory was written with white paint, and also the name of the faculty member in charge. Virendra went past the first gap and a row of cupboards, and stopped at the second gap to the right in front of a door. The door was closed; on the door two plastic letters were glued, VC. This was his laboratory. Virendra used to be teased by his friends, because VC also stood for vice-chancellor.

  Virendra knocked on the door and waited. Behind him stood Brennan and Agarwal. Virendra said, 'We keep the door locked to keep dirt, dust, and sometimes intruders out. The sweeper comes so rarely.' After a pause, he added, 'I have given away all the keys to the students; so if they are not there, I myself cannot enter.' Virendra smiled faintly, but nobody saw it.

  Shortly there was sound of footsteps behind the door. Then it stopped. There was the sound of opening the latch, and the door opened. Sreekanth, one of Virendra's students, became visible. He made a polite gesture, moved to a side to make room for the visitors to enter. Virendra led the group into the laboratory. A
fter all of them entered, Virendra said, 'This is Sreekanth, one of my students.' Then looking at Sreekanth, he added, 'Sreekanth, this is Dr Brennan from MatTech, and you know Mr Agarwal already.' They exchanged polite nods.

  The longish laboratory was in full view from the door. There was a teak-framed glass wall which went all the way to the ceiling, separating the inner from the outer room. There were two other students working in the inner room. The inner part had a PVC floor, a long laboratory table on the left, some major equipment on the right, and there were three wall air conditioners. The outer part had a bare floor, a miscellany of laboratory equipment including a workbench to the left containing drills, a grinder, and a bench-vice, and another workbench to the right containing a sink and water tap and some large bottles. A full-length glass swivel door permitted passage between the two parts of the room. A couple of rugs lay on the floor on this side of the door. Usually everybody kept their footwear outside and entered the inner laboratory barefoot.

  Virendra led the visitors to the glass door, brushed the soles of his leather sandals on one of the rugs but did not take the sandals off, invited the visitors inside while saying, 'Please wipe your feet on the rugs. We try to keep the inside clean. The sweeper seldom visits us.' The visitors complied with the request; it was a simple task compared to taking the shoes off. It was not clear to the students why Virendra made the exception, out of shyness or out of polite generosity. Inside it made a somewhat odd gathering; the three students stood barefoot and the visitors and Virendra with footwear on.