COCKTAIL IN THE RAINBOW - Prologue

It was mid-August of end-seventies of the last century. I was relaxing in the coupe of a first class air-conditioned compartment of Howrah-Delhi Express waiting for departure from Howrah station. My destination was Patna junction.

I always preferred overnight train journey to irregular day journey by aeroplane not only to enjoy the luxury of first class air-conditioned couch, but also to save working hours.

I could learn from the reservation chart affixed to the outer wall of the compartment that the upper berth of the coupe was allotted to one Mr. S. Bose destined to Mokamah junction.

“Good evening! Sumanta Bose."

I looked at the caller. A tall gentleman of the late thirties in blue jeans and Havana coat with bent tobacco pipe gripped in the left corner of his jaw stood before me smiling.

“Good evening,” I said, “Please take your seat Mr. Bose.”

Mr. Bose thanked me and helped his porter to unload his big suitcase decorated by many multicoulered stickers of hotels and airlines.

Sultry weather of August in Calcutta was so tiresome that I was wearing only a printed ‘lungi’ and side cut ‘banian’.

Since air-conditioning effect was very mild I put on the fan on full speed. For the sake of formality, I wore my thin ‘Kurta’ when Mr. Bose had gone to the toilet for changing his dress.

Arriving back in his sleeping suit Mr. Bose asked me “Like some drinks?” Saying this without waiting for my ‘yes’ or ‘no’, he brought out a big bottle of Cognac Napoleon, a superb French brandy, I heard of, never seen or tasted.

I had a pint bottle of Indian 3X Rum, of course virgin, in my suitcase. Earlier I thought of enjoying my own drinks alone had there been cancellation of the journey of other passenger at the last moment. Many times in my travelling life, it happened thus. I was totally alone in the coupe relaxing with drinks and few current light magazine containing interviews of film stars and their spicy stories. I also used to imagine young princess of some ex-Vassal state or leading film actress occupying the last moment cancelled berth and I would express my chivalrous courtesy by offering my lower berth to her ladyship.

“Most welcome Mr. Bose. It’s my pleasure,” I said enthusiastically. Co-passenger offering Cognac Napoleon seemed to be more precious to me than the young princess or film actress. In many dinner parties at the five star hotels I had the chance of enjoying Scotch whisky, Spanish sherry, French champagne or Cognac. Obviously I was thrilled at the sight of Cognac bottle bearing the name of the famous French Emperor.

Sumanta Bose called the coach attendant and asked for some ice.

“Sir! Had you told me earlier, I would have fetched from the platform, we do not keep ice in the compartment,” replied the coach attendant cracking the joints of his fingers.

Before the attendant finished his useless words of cheap excuse Mr. Bose had jumped up from his seat and vanished within a moment. Just two or three minutes passed, he came back with a block of ice.

“Poor creatures! I don't find any change at all. Without doing anything they would stretch hands for tips as they did before,” said Mr. Bose                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

He seemed to be irritated for the cold behavior of the railway employee. In fact, he was not that much experienced with the psychology of the travelling railway staff. Had he given the coach attendant a ten-rupee note with his order for ice, material would have been brought by him without showing any excuse.

Bringing back smile on his handsome face Mr. Bose said, “Now the problem is how to break the ice.”

“No problem at all”, saying this I opened my suitcase and brought out a heavy metal bottle opener, which was once presented to me by a fellow traveler attached to a wine company.

I told Mr. Bose, “Hope this will also act as icebreaker.”

“Really marvelous!” Exclaimed Mr. Bose. He then brought down two glass tumblers from the holders and poured in Cognac to make two equal large pegs. I helped him break the ice block with the opener and got two large pieces which were again put in the tumblers. The rest of the ice block was wrapped inside a towel to prevent immediate melting.

Cheers! Mr. Bose raised his glass.

Cheers! I echoed pushing the brocade screen to one side of the window. Through clear glass screen, though double, I could see the fast receding light posts and lighted windows of the railside houses and realised that the train was picking up speed.

Mr. Bose filled with fresh tobacco in his pipe after the exchange of our individual identities.

He would get down a Mokamah junction and would go to Urvaraknagar, a fertilizer township near Barauni oil refinery, hardly at a distance less than three kilometers.

Mr. Bose was employed in an American fertilizer company in their South East Asian Marketing Division having office in New York and deputed by his company to survey the prospect of joint venture in Indian sub-continent. The first study was to be made by Mr. Bose about the production capacities of the fertilizer companies situated in different countries of the sub-continent against projected market potential and also to assess the requirement of fertilizer to cope with the agricultural development program so that his company in the United States could plan strategy for export of fertilizer to those developing and underdeveloped countries or for collaborating with the public and private sector companies.

“I look through the window everything clear outside. Can you tell me Sir about the position of moon this evening?” Mr. Bose asked me.

I was bewildered to a great extent. Spending so many years in sales and marketing I was only busy in my endeavors in reaching business and collection target, attending sales conference, reviewing territorial performance of sales personnel and moving often in the region allotted by my company, besides participating in multifarious cocktail parties and meeting incoming and outgoing bosses at the airport, I had no time at all to catch the movement of my family members. How could I know the motion of celestial bodies like sun, moon, stars, planets, and so on? But it was not possible for me to reply like that.

“Probably full moon night,” I said. Next moment I remembered that I was having a diary with dates in three languages – English, Bengali and Hindi along with lunar days. I brought out the diary from my briefcase and got, what had been asked by

Mr. Bose.

“Today is the fourteenth of the light fortnight, Sukla Chaturdashi as is said. Full moon, I mean Purnima will fall at 10.15 p.m.,” I said again.

“Sukla Chaturdashi?” Mr. Bose exclaimed, “What a great coincidence!” he continued, “I remember the big cocktail party beginning in the evening of Sukla Chaturdashi and closing with the full moon descending towards the horizon.”

Having a light sip of the Cognac I told, “Thrilling! To hear about a long cocktail party, I feel I was there.”

Mr. Bose burst into a sounding laughter, which he restrained within few seconds and said pointing to my glass, “Perhaps you would have been misfit in that party, you are too slow in drinks. Please finish your glass, we will have next.”

I told smilingly, “Only next, no further.”

“That we will think later. Let us enjoy,” Mr. Bose said while pouring drinks in the tumblers.

Though most of the ice melted into water inside the towel, whatever was left I broke in two pieces and put inside our glasses.

I said, “Mr. Bose, you told about a big cocktail party, that was in India or abroad?”

“Oh! You remember that! Yes, it was in India and of course in Calcutta. It was the last cocktail party I participated before my departure for the States,” Mr. Bose said and took a sip of Cognac. He continued, “You know had it been a hilarious dinner party starting with dance and cocktail session, I would have forgotten the event long back. But I have not forgotten even now after so many years as the party appeared to me something different, beyond knowledge of many Indians having no idea of multinational corporate companies.”

I stared at Mr. Bose with curiosity.

Mr. Bose continued, “Yes, it was the cocktail party of a multinational company’s eastern regional office in Calcutta where I worked only for seven days as their Divisional Manager of Agro-Chemical products.”

I said, “If you don’t mind Mr. Bose, can I know the name of the company?”

Mr. Bose said, “Why not? You may know the company very well. Perhaps better than me. ”

“It is Rainbow International India Private Limited.”

“Yes I know. Now the company’s name has been changed to Rainbow Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals India Limited. It is now a giant company in India manufacturing chemicals of all types, pharmaceutical products, bulk drugs, diagnostic kits and hospital equipment. I know some boys working for Rainbow. But I am very much interested to know about your experience of the cocktail party in Rainbow,” I said with a smile.

“Oh! Sure! But don’t fall asleep. It’s a long story and still there is half bottle of Cognac.” Mr. Bose said with sounding laughter again.

After having a long sip of Cognac, Mr. Sumanta Bose started narrating the story of Cocktail in the Rainbow.