Several of the senior residents, namely Mrs Thripthorpe, Mr Miller, Mr Mendez and, of course, Robin in tow, went to meet the deputy commissioner in Ranchi. Mr Brown and Major William had both sent the promised money for the development work of McCluskieganj. Once in Ranchi, they requested the deputy commissioner to get the work done by the government department directly and not through contractors. The deputy commissioner agreed with their proposition.
McCluskieganj became abuzz with activity. Masons and carpenters were all working on war footing. Meanwhile, Mr Rozario came and selected a piece of land for his school. In fact, a lot of construction material was deposited at the site. Robin was pleased as a punch. After a prolonged winter, spring was once again visiting McCluskieganj. Yet there were some discordant notes to be heard. The contractors in league with the Jharkhand Freedom Front had expressed dissatisfaction over being excluded from the contracts. They had even visited Ranchi and met the deputy commissioner. The deputy commissioner, however, avoided any kind of confrontation by saying that both Mr Brown and Major William had given strict instructions to keep the local contractors out.
Duti Bhagat swore under his breath, ‘This is the doing of that eight-anna rogue, Robin. We must teach him a lesson. It is he who has instigated Bahadur Oraon’s daughter into the politics of leadership. I will see to it that Robin will soon keep Bahadur Oraon company at the Kanke Mental Hospital.’
The local newspapers were full of reports from McCluskieganj. Correspondent Basant was covering the developments in the village with great zeal. The renovation of Mr McCluskie’s bungalow was entrusted to mason Ishaq and his team, who were doing a marvellous job. Ishaq told Sobarati, his wife, ‘If there is any truth in the idea of spirits, the spirit of Mr McCluskie must be in the seventh heaven today, seeing the goings-on here.’
The weather was changing. Mr Miller told Robin, ‘When you came six months ago, did you ever think so much would happen in this village. That is how sweet dreams turn to reality. Who would have believed that our foundation day would into such an event!’
Slowly the guests started arriving. Keith Tomalin was the first one to arrive in the third week of October. He came with his wife and daughter. The days passed so fast. It was the day before foundation day. Robin’s parents were to arrive in Ranchi on 3 November itself. He had worked out all the details of their arrival, the timing, his own getting to the airport to pick them up, but he had a couple of chores lined up before that. Khushia Pahan reached Queen’s Cottage swaying to his own song. ‘Jeffrey Babu and Fisher Babu have arrived. Had Parkinson Sahib been alive, he would have gone mad with joy,’ he told Jack. Not one to be left out, Sobarati too reached Queen’s Cottage, which at the moment had turned into a control room for the event. She told Jack, ‘Walter Babu has arrived with his wife; my God, she has become so fat, four times her husband’s size.’ Mr Gibson too had gone off to Ranchi to receive his wife.
All the guest houses were full, be it Peacock Guest House or the Highland Guest House or Queen’s Cottage. Inquiries poured in continuously at Queen’s Cottage control room: the decorations, namely, paper streamers and buntings were all ready, but from where to where would they adorn the site? Where is the microphone, Robin? The fancy dress competition was being handled entirely by Danny and Jennifer, who were in turn being assisted by Mr Mendez’s daughter and son-in-law, Evon and Bruno. Majeed was in charge of serving tea, which he did with mind-boggling frequency to the guests at Queen’s Cottage. Jack’s kitchen too was humming with activity. Preparations were afoot for breakfast and lunch for the guests on foundation day. Neelmani had posted some assistants from her group for Jack’s benefit. Kitty, of all people, too had put herself at Jack’s disposal. Mrs Thripthorpe’s daughter Judy had made a lot of delicious jam for the occasion, while Mary David had provided special lemon pickle. Kathleen Harrigan had been working overtime to make cakes and pastries. Above all, ‘world famous chef’ Randolph appeared, as if by magic, with all his cooking paraphernalia. He said, ‘I’ll show the magic of my cooking art on this great day.’ The Mozart of
McCluskieganj, Mr Robinson came with his band of musicians for the entertainment of everyone. All were dressed in their Sunday best. Miss Bonner inquired, ‘Robin, have the souvenirs arrived?’ ‘They have been ready for more than a week. I’ll bring them tomorrow when I go to Ranchi to fetch my parents,’ answered Robin. The only disappointment on the occasion was that neither Mr Brown nor Mr Rozario could attend the function as both had been called away to Calcutta for a very important meeting.
That night, Neelmani went to Queen’s Cottage to ask Robin to come and see the rehearsal of the Adivasi dance and song. But Robin declined saying he had no opinion on the subject as he was totally new to it. But Neelmani insisted that the artists would feel very encouraged if he went. She also requested him to mention at the outset of the programme that the Adivasi presentation was by the members of the self-reliance groups from the villages around.
In the light of the lantern, Robin saw the artists sing and sway. The men were scantily clothed, almost bare-bodied. Robin asked Neelmani, ‘Don’t they feel cold?’ Neelmani answered, ‘Doesn’t make any difference. When you are happy, nothing matters!’ Robin asked her the meaning of the song. Neelmani explained, ‘This is an Oraon song. The male actor says, “My beloved has given me a flower. Where will I keep it? I kept it in a box. When I opened the box and saw the flower, I said to myself, I need nothing more, because I see my beloved’s face.”’ Neelmani somehow patched together a meaning to the song.
Then Robin returned to Queen’s Cottage. On the way back, strange and wonderful feelings possessed him. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of life, by Neelmani’s simplicity. Robin stopped in his tracks for a second. He realized he had fallen in love with her.
Reaching Queen’s Cottage, Robin saw someone sitting beside Mr Miller in the verandah. On going closer, he saw that it was Kitty. Mr Miller said, ‘She has been waiting for you for over three hours. I told her to come tomorrow morning, but she would not listen.’ ‘Are you angry with me?’ Robin asked. Then Kitty began to cry. ‘Why are you crying?’ But Kitty just got up and went away. Robin was taken aback and said, ‘She waited for three hours and just went away without saying anything…’ Mr Miller said, ‘Kitty has said it all. Those were tears of joy and her own way of expressing appreciation.’