A few days ago, at a wedding reception I attended, I was greeted by a tall, hefty person, I just could not recognise him. I felt embarrassed but was not surprised because after all I had come to the city after a gap of 35 years.
In that time, the gentleman’s body profile had completely changed. He used to be a lean and thin man who walked briskly. He had a vibrant voice and thick curly hair, which had now disappeared. That day, he emerged from his car wrapped in knee caps, a walking stick in hand. Having severe arthritis, he was unable to walk on his own. While I was struggling to figure out who he was, he had spotted me.
He was so excited to see an old acquaintance that for a moment he seemed to have forgotten his physical condition. He virtually rushed towards me and called me by my first name in a loud voice. His boisterous tone helped me recognise him. I shouted, “Khanna?” He nodded in confirmation, and gave me a bear hug to mark the happy reunion. I was silently looking at the layers of flesh and fat my old friend had accumulated over the years, which had completely changed his persona.
As I was still studying the “new” Khanna, I was reminded of a junior engineer who had also accumulated a lot of fat and flesh on his frail body though in different circumstances.
Agrawal, a government engineer, was posted in a city that was close to the bandit-infested ravines in the southern part of the state. They would frequently target persons whose kidnapping could yield handsome ransom money.
One day, it was Agrawal’s turn. He was picked up and taken to the dreaded ravines. The bandits demanded a big amount as the price for releasing him. But the family was not in a position to pay.
Various channels were explored to seek the engineer’s release but nothing worked. The bandits made it clear that he would not be released until the entire amount was paid to them in full.
Distraught family
It was a well-known fact that police in both Uttar Pradesh and the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh had been unable to flush out the bandits who were well-entrenched in the difficult geo-physical region. While the engineer remained in captivity, back home his distraught family remained busy raising funds to be paid as ransom. All this was taking a toll on their resources, patience, time and above all peace of mind.
Time was flying fast with no solution in sight. No amount of imploring moved the gang. They insisted on one-time, full payment. Happily, more than three months later, news came that the abducted engineer was being released. It was time to rejoice for not only the family members but many others. They were preparing to give him a hero’s welcome.
However, those most disturbed were the abducted man’s wife and mother. The mother, in particular, would often break down thinking that during the past months, apart from beating him, the bandits may have starved her son. He must have been reduced to a mere skeleton.
She was desperate for a time when she could give him the best food to enable him to regain his health in the shortest possible time.
But there was an anticlimax. When the abducted man returned home, his mother was shocked, though for a different reason. It was not the same Agrawal who had been taken away. The man standing before her must have weighed 1.5 times more than what he weighed at the time of his abduction.
“How has he put on so much weight?” was the single question puzzling everyone. Agrawal divulged the reason. The bandits followed a strict diet, the emphasis being on ‘desi ghee’ (clarified butter), fruits and other supplements. ‘Ghee’, in their opinion, was the best energy-giver.
The gang moved from place to place. The abducted engineer was assigned the task of carrying on his head the all-important heavy load of ‘ghee’. Importantly, the bandits ensured that their captive consumed as much ‘ghee’ as them and was given the same food that they ate.
The bandits seemed to have two things in mind — one to keep him fit enough to carry the load of ‘ghee’ and, two, to keep him alive for the ransom.
With no physical activity and only sleeping most of the time, what could he or anybody else expect, except layers of fat on his otherwise frail frame?
Lalit Raizada is a journalist based in India.
