Four hundred and thirty years ago, Sher Shah Suri, the little-known Emperor of India, gave a firm administrative set up to his Empire. He divided the empire in 47 ‘Sarkars and each Sarkar was further sub-divided into several Parganas. Usually, each Pargana was under an Amin and one Shiqdar, one Hindi writer and another Persian accountant. These two posts could also be held by one person if he knew Hindi and Persian equally well. In his empire, ex- tending from Sonargaon in Bangla Desh to Sarkar on the banks of the Indus in the present West Pakistan, Sher Shah Suri introduced for the first time a new element in adminis tration, the element of aloofness which was later followed to perfection by British in India, by appointing officers not belonging to local clime and community. He drafted men from different parts of his empire to fill in these posts in 47 Sarkars. The sub-divisional officers in command of Parganas, with maturity and administrative experience, were pro- moted to hold command of a Sarkar. Such persons were men of proved ability, integrity and loyalty and were the top members of the administrative hierarchy.
A young man, well-versed in Hindi, Persian and Arabic, was faced with a challenge of leaving his hearth and home in the now Uttar Pradesh and join the emperor’s service as sub-divisional officer in Bangladesh. He took the adventurous course. The administrative set up of Sher Shah was more or less completely adopted by the Mughals and the services of this person like most of the others were also passed on to the Mughals. Not only his adventure but even his intellect and ability was so striking that he soon became the commander of a Sarkar. He spent a fruitful life and his sons and grandsons enjoyed the confidence of the Emperors and local Nawabs and remained equally illustrious officers governing a Sarkar. They came under the influence of the Tantrik Cult of Bengal. Some of them moved further into the East and developed more intimate contacts with the Tantrik Spiritualists. Along with the learning of Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic, practicing Tantrik cult became a family tradition. They became famous not only for their position and ability but were also known as spiritual leaders of the area. They were respected and often discourses and discussions on literature, religion and spirituality were held under their patronage. Some also developed great occult powers by practising Tantra in burning ghats and jungles in spite of their high position in the government. The tradition of the family was further strengthened by each generation, adding something more by their personal achievements.
But with the fall of Mughals the eminent administrators and scholars of Samskrt and Persian had no place in the government. Their integrity and loyalty was the greatest stumbling block to win favour with the British who wanted only copyists, and clerks from the Indian Community. The erstwhile Sarkars could not pocket their self-respect and found themselves thrown to wilderness. The persons who ruled the Sarkar had to be satisfied with the mere title of Sarkar to maintain a link with the past glory. Their property was confiscated and where once stood a mansion as their home now wild shrubs grow.
The end of the first decade of the 20th century witnessed another migration in the family. Shri Lakshmi Narayan Sarkar joined the accounts department of the most important Railway workshop of the country at Jamalpur in Bihar. In the post mutiny consolidation of the Empire, the British proclaimed the introduction of the railways in India as the biggest welfare activity. It provided them facility for trans-porting their forces besides providing employment to the growing tribe of Anglo Indians. Very few Indians, only those who were exceptionally clever, could secure a higher job for themselves in the Railways, whether run by the government or a company. Shri Lakshmi Narayan Sarkar was a very lucky person to have secured employment so rarely available to Indians. He proved his worth by not only efficiency in office work but by establishing good relations with all around him irrespective of their being Indians, Anglo- Indians or Europeans. He commanded respect from all and also gratitude for little and commonplace help extended to his colleagues without any hesitation and above all, without even the slightest show of having done a good deed.
He was married to Shrimati Abharani who came with him to live in Jamalpur. Shrimati Abharani is the daughter of an eminent and well-known medical practitioner, Late Dr. Upendra Nath Basu of Basirhat, a sub-divisional town in 24 Parganas District of West Bengal. She is the fourth daughter of the late Dr. Upendra Nath Basu. Married at an early age, she took to the traditions of learning and spirituality of the Sarkar family which has been inherited in all her children. She has been a devout person from her very childhood and perhaps it is because of her spiritual background and association that even at this ripe old age today her alertness of mind and sharp receptivity with a clear and deep memory amazes everyone who comes in contact with her even for a short while. Ever-since her husband died, she has been a very loving mother and a very strict father to all her sons, the eldest of whom was a student of ninth class in the Railway High School of Jamalpur. It was her courage and deep interest in her children’s well-being and progress that she sent her eldest son to Calcutta for further college education in spite of her being a widow and this son being the eldest male member of the family. She has been an affectionate mother but her love never came in the way in keeping her children on the right path. She has exercised a very great influence on all her children, particularly four sons who have imbibed her qualities of selflessness, generosity, gratitude for even small favours received and far more a disciplined and righteous way of life with deep devotion for the all-pervading Cosmic Consciousness- The Brahma.
Shri Lakshmi Narayan Sarkar was a very happy man, he had a good job, a good home and a very happy family. At home, he was mostly engaged in literary pursuits. Every evening, there were sittings of learned persons, particularly Samskrt scholars, at his house. He had none of the habits of the modern society of playing cards, dice or other such entertainment. The only other occupation he had was the study of homeopathy, in which he took very keen and lively interest. He ran a free homeopathic dispensary where the attendance of patients at times numbered more than a hundred. Jamalpur was a small town then. The opening of the train service through Jamalpur had started giving it a special position as the riverine traffic via Monghyr was losing its importance. Jamalpur was the connecting link between Monghyr and Calcutta, being the Railway Station for the district town. Yet it was only in the process of developing into a town and so there were no medical services available in Jamalpur itself. Patients had to track a long distance for even minor treatment. Shri Lakshmi Narayan was possibly the only person in Jamalpur dispensing treatment to patients and there was not a single family in Jamalpur which had not taken advantage of his services at one time or the other. He was universally known, loved and respected in Jamalpur. No one had a word to say against him. With all this, at times Shri Sarkar thought he had nothing else to wish for. One thing however started troubling when the second child born to his wife was also a daughter. He should have a son’ was what almost everybody in Jamalpur started whispering. For his well-wishers were not confined to his family only; the entire population of Jamalpur having benefited from his treatment took a keen and intimate interest in his family and its progress. A son for him was almost everybody’s wish.
People suggested various things. Some of his learned friends offered to do a Yajina for him; others offered a sacrifice at the Kali Temple. None of these appealed to Shri Lakshmi Narayan. He remembered his family tradition of being dependent on God for everything, good or bad, and he only smiled at all these suggestions without either rejecting or accepting them. He wanted his own method to be adopted and that was prayer which ultimately brought fulfilment of his wishes and a son was born to him.
Prayers of Shri Lakshmi Narayan were well answered as within a year another child was expected by his wife. This created a problem of looking after the first son which was however solved by finding foster parents for him. The second child was also a son. This added to the happiness of the family. He was named Kanai Lal Sarkar. He is the son who in fact looks after the family and has remained a bachelor although he holds a good job in the Jamalpur Railway Workshop.
Kanai was followed by another daughter who was named Bijli Prabha. Bijli Prabha was a very welcome daughter as the family had lost the second daughter. She was a chubby round-faced baby and was the darling doll of the family. The eldest brother Prabhat was particularly fond of her and showered lot of affection and love on her. It was perhaps her striking brightness and intelligence that endeared her to every one in the family particularly the eldest brother. Unfortunately she did not live long and at the age of 18 she got an attack of typhoid, against which she could not fight in absence of the modern drug, the Chloromycetine. Her death due to the fever was a great shock to the family but many thought her to be lucky as she had the blessing of her eldest brother at the time of her death.
Two more sons joined the Sarkar family and Shri Lakshmi Narayan had a house full of children, beloved sons and daughters.
The third son born was named Hemansu Ranjan. He grew up to be a fine young man, joined the engineering department of the East-Indian Rly. and is now an officer at Dhanbad in the Eastern Railway. His marriage with Shrimati Kalyani was performed by the eldest brother in 1966 before he left Jamalpur. Hemansu Ranjan has a son called Saumitra (Platoo) and a daughter named Samita. The entire family is ardent follower of Ananda Marga. Hemansu Ranjan is perhaps the one in the family who understands BABA best. Having entered service in Jamal- pur at the age of 19 years, he has now at the age of 42 done very well in reaching the higher service in the grade of officers.
The youngest of the family is Manas Ranjan Sarkar who is happily married and is working in the Jamalpur Railway Workshop.
Shri Lakshmi Narayan was a happy man when he died rather prematurely. He had with the passing of time gained more respect and a reputation for social service. In the devastating Bihar earthquake of mid nineteen-thirties which showed its ugliest fury in Monghyr, Shri Sarkar worked day and night rescuing victims of the quake. He organised a band of youngmen, of Jamalpur who followed him in digging debris and taking out men, women and children buried alive for days under it. He arranged for their being carried to a place of safety as many had lost everything, their house, their clothes, and all their belongings; often a boy, a child or an old woman was the sole survivor with no one to look after such a destitute. It was Shri Sarkar’s ability of organizing these operations which brought a new hope to hundreds of such forlorn souls. But before long he was attacked by Kalazar fever from which he could not recover. He died prematurely at the age of 45 leaving behind his widow, two daughters and four sons. Shri Prabhata Ranjan was the eldest child studying in Class IX of the Railway High School. It was not only the family who mourned his death but the entire town of Jamalpur. For they had lost a person to whom they could look up in the hour of their need, from whom they could expect sympathy and affection and one who was always ready to sacrifice his personal comforts, for the service of others. Shri Lakshmi Narayan was really a remarkable person, the like of whom are very rarely born on this earth.
“Listen, Oh! Human beings-Humanity is the highest goal. There is nothing beyond its to know.”
Shri Shri Anandamurti
