CURIOSITY

Some say if necessity is the mother of invention then curiosity is the father of it! But there has been no specification to the level or area of curiosity and if ‘father’ comes first or the ‘mother’. So, many a time, we have been misled and directed our energy in the wrong direction. 99 per cent of the population is curious about almost everything under the sun and beyond it too. Most people can let their work wait and poke their nose anywhere to satisfy their curiosity. They don’t bother to think if they even need to ‘know’ what is happening at that moment.

The field reporters often find such ‘curious’ people on their assignments. Nowadays, people understand a lot about media. They know where there is a camera there is ‘bawal’. So the curiosity and adrenaline level goes up whenever they see reporters and camerapersons. How can one miss the opportunity to ‘be informed’ about a piece of information before anyone can get to watch it on TV or read it on the newspapers next morning?  How can one miss the chance to gossip with his or her friend that he was privy to news as it happened and as the Tvwalas captured it?

Like it happened last Saturday while the media waited outside the Kolkata airport. The ignorance about N Srinivasan doesn’t matter to these ‘curious’ people. It can be cross-checked or verified later. ‘Let me first see it’: is the motto for them. Many asked the waiting gang of media men, “dada who is coming”. If you reply, suppose, “Srinivasan”. Many of them will not know who this Srinivasan is. Still they will nod their head like a wise man and walk off. Some will stand by with the reporters to have a glimpse of the man, as he heard the name, Srinivas! Some will pass wise comments like, “oh that man…whose son-in-law is in jail”. Then they will confront the journo, “…aaarree what is the name of his jamai? Bolun na…” Some journalists ignore such questions. Those who answer will be charged with many more. It will seem as if he was briefing his boss! Many of the passersby will forget their near and dear ones are anxiously waiting at home or elsewhere. They will stand behind the camera, sometimes in front of it for no reason at all. Sometimes the situation will force you to think so many people have no work and the level of unemployment is indeed high.

Among many, a funny incident must be mentioned here. Some reporters and photographers were waiting outside a Kolkata auditorium near Nandan for a meeting of the State Election Commission. A curious passer-by stopped and asked the usual question, “Who is coming dada?”

 No one answered. After he repeated his question with more curiosity, one answered, “Sudipta Sen is coming.”

 The reporter thought this would be easier for him to satisfy the man rather than explaining about SEC meeting. But the man shot another question, “Why is Sudipta Sen coming here? He is in jail!”

To this the reporter replied seriously, “Yes, he is in jail. But he wanted to watch a film. So he is being taken from the jail to Nandan. This is a government cinema house.”

The man got furious and started abusing not the reporter but the government, “How can a government do this? The government’s job should be to see the dues are paid to the investors and it can’t allow a criminal like Sudipta Sen to watch a film!”

Last heard he left the place immediately. What is not known is his reaction when he told this to his friends or family and got to know the truth. Or it may be he hasn’t got a chance to know the truth and will believe this information to be true all his life!

So always remember when necessity is the mother of invention then curiosity becomes the father!

YOUR HONOUR, MY LORD

Court reporting is not as easy as it used to be, say ten years back. In the days of television and ‘tweeteretti’, a court reporter or, to put it in a sophisticated way, a legal correspondent has to be prompt in reporting what the lawyers argue and the judges say in court. Those days are gone when the reporter could depend on the summary statement of the advocates of both the litigating sides and go through the copy of the judgment before dispatching his report.

Trust me, it is also not as easy to be prompt in court reporting as the television producers demand a reporter to be. Even if you are present in the courtroom, the Indians I mean and to be specific in Bengal’s, there is no guarantee that at the first go you will be able to fathom what the lawyers are arguing and what the judges are muttering. Leave the district courts aside. Let us enter the High Court. Unless you know the subject of the litigation or lawyer decides to speak in an audible voice, you are going to stare at everyone’s face to understand what the drama is all about. You are lucky if you get to hear a ‘dramatic’ lawyer. At the end of his argument it will seem as if he has the case in the bag and the judge is about to deliver the verdict in his favour. But wait! The lawyer from the other side will change your whole idea about the case when he starts and finishes his argument.

My first professional entry into a courtroom was when a chartered accountant, Mr RS Lodha, claimed he became the owner of the Rs 5000-crore property of Mr MP Birla as, according to his documents, Mr Birla’s wife Ms Priyamvada Birla wrote the property in his name in her will. The whole of Birla clan contested the will. At the end of each day’s hearing, we used to go to the solicitors’ offices of both Mr Loda and the Birlas. My colleague still says, at the end of the solicitors’ briefings it used to look as if both the parties have won the day. 

Who doesn’t like to see two parties quarreling? Let’s admit it’s fun witnessing a legal argument. But when the advocate delves into voluminous judgments of the bygone days and hover over a single point of argument, it slowly begins to sound like a lullaby and sweet sleep beckons. Arguments are over. Now it’s time for the judge to give you a hard time. Most of the times only the judge and the court officer will manage to hear the verdict. And this is also a good time to test your hearing power. You will literally have to stretch your ears to get a word or two of the judgment. You will get to know which ear is functioning perfectly and which is not! Then you will have to run after the lawyers or the court officers present in the court to get the gist of the judgment. If the judge is loud, don’t conclude from his initial words what judgment he is finally delivering. In the first part of the order he may be recording the arguments of the lawyers, then his own observations and finally his verdict will come. So wait till the last moment. You can’t flash the final order until he is leaving his chamber or taking up the next case.

And if it is a trial court, it has happened that the reporters had to wait till 10 o’clock in the evening to know the order of a high profile case when the arguments were over at 2 pm in the afternoon. 

 On top of everything you cannot go wrong in giving any information about a case. You will be caught by the court, let alone by your boss. 

 And understanding legal jargons? Let’s keep the issue for another day. That’s another story.