It was January 1974, and it was past noon when Poritosh Sarkar stepped inside his rented three-storeyed house at Maniktala, Kolkata. Poritosh was dressed neatly in a white shirt and white trousers. He had left his black overcoat at the lawyers’ cabin. He had a subdued look on his face and he didn’t know what to say to his wife Poroma since he knew his purse and pen were missing on his way home from the court. He distinctly remembered bumping into a young man while alighting from the tram near Maniktala. He had almost cursed the man, who seemed to be in a hurry to get on the tram.

Poritosh, had the opinion that “Everyone who was charged in the name of the law, needed a lawyer to defend themselves!” He had developed the uncanny habit of representing the petty criminals, pickpockets, and small-time criminals.

Poroma on realising that something was wrong had asked, “What is it? You look so sad!”

Poritosh meekly replied, “Well, I can’t find my pen and purse”

On hearing this Poroma replied, “We all know that people have to suffer from the consequences of their acts sometime or the other. Defend more pickpockets and criminals and see what you get in return!”

Poritosh was not expecting this. Although, he knew his wife would be angry so he kept quiet. Soon his elder brother’s wife and his spinster sister also joined his wife and started making fun of the entire issue. Poritosh ate his lunch in silence and went to sleep in his room. He tossed and turned and didn’t get any sleep. Finally, he got up when it was evening and went in search of Kalu the pickpocket, who he had defended and set scot-free last month.

Kalu was getting ready for his nocturnal outing when Poritosh confronted him. Kalu was a dark-complexioned short man, yet he was very strong and had a twisted nose. His veins were all visible in his strong bare hands.His unkempt hair and his shoddy half-shirt spoke of his sorry state of affairs.

“Well, this is the last time I have defended you. If I don’t get my pen and purse back I am not going to represent any one of you guys anymore!” Paritosh said.

Kalu, not accustomed to threats didn’t know how to react. Usually, his personality intimidated others. As the fear of not being represented by a good lawyer at such a marginal fee sank in, his gratitude towards Poritosh appeared suddenly. “Sirji, please come with me, I will see what I can do!”

Kalu took Poritosh to Rajabazar moving from one dingy-looking lane to another. Kalu went in and asked Poritosh to follow. They were then confronted by a hefty looking man possibly some henchman, who spoke in a quiet tone to Kalu. The man seemed agitated on seeing Poritosh, but he let them pass when Kalu insisted.

“I have to meet Salim bhai, it’s urgent!”

When Poritosh and Kalu entered the house, they found that it had a red cemented courtyard. At the centre of the courtyard sat a dark-complexioned man in his forties on a cane chair, who had a grayish-white beard and was smoking a cigarette. His hair had a frayed look. He was wearing bangles in his left hand. Poritosh was a bit taken aback since he had successfully defended this man, a couple of months ago, whom Kalu now referred to as Salim. Poritosh remembered that Salim was referred to as Pintu when he was being ushered in the court of law, and it is surprising that the same fellow was now being referred to as Salim. Kalu had started relating what had happened to Poritosh, but then suddenly Poritosh interjected saying, “Hey, is your name Salim or Pintu?”

To this question, Salim smiled and replied, “Well, we have many names, Sirji! I am originally Muslim and in India, most Muslims have a Hindu pet name as well. People who are close to me call me Salim and yet I have multiple other names which the police call as an alias!”

Then Poritosh went on to relate what had happened and when he finished Kalu added, “Sirji, is saying that if he doesn’t get back his pen and purse he will not defend anyone of us!”

Salim looked at Poritosh and said, “Most people think that low scum of the society like us do not have any ethics but frankly, although we may be pickpockets, thieves or low criminals we have some code of conduct as well.” Then he stopped and looked at Kalu and said, “We are not supposed to dupe our own brothers or people who can actually defend us! I will see what we can do!”

Then Kalu accompanied Poritosh to the Rajabazar crossing and then left him alone. Poritosh decided to walk back home, pondering whether what he had just done was correct or not!  Or was he getting sucked into the vortex of crime? It was nine when he reached home and was confronted by his elder brother Sanjay who said, “Well, I told you not to defend these criminals and now see what has happened. It is like keeping a black cobra as a pet and feeding it with milk and then when it grows up, it starts biting its own owner. People like you will never learn!”

Kamala, his brother’s wife, added, “Dada there is no point wasting time, money and energy after these petty criminals. You should stick to defend rich clients who can give you more fame and reputation than these lowly idiots. You should stick to more affluent clients.”

Poritosh wanted to say, “I defend them because they are human beings like me. They are down-trodden and don’t get opportunities like the common men. If someone is a proven thief, then people do not trust them anymore and they don’t get even menial jobs. I think they deserve better. After all, to err is human!” However, strangely his voice was lost in the face of reasoning from almost all the family members of his. 

The next evening, when Poritosh was returning home from the court, he found Kalu waiting for him at the entrance of the lane where he lived in Maniktala. Kalu promptly said, “Sirji, please follow me, Salim had asked me to inform you.”

Again, Kalu took Poritosh to Rajabazar and this time he went into that same dingy lane. This time he was confronted with a woman, who on recognising Kalu, let them through! Upon entering the house, they found sprawled across the red cemented floor, around thirty to thirty-five purses and around fifteen to twenty pens of different makes and designs.

Slowly, Poritosh inspected them and picked up his purse and pen from among the lot. The money in his purse was intact and the pen which was a gold nib parker was soon back in Poritosh’s pocket. Poritosh said, “How did you get all these together so fast?”

“We have resources for these, I guess!” replied Salim with raised shoulders.

“We won’t let you go so easily, Mr Sarkar! We need good lawyers as well!” said Kalu.

Poritosh returned home jubilant. It was around nine when he entered home and shouted, “I have retrieved my purse and pen. I think I wouldn’t have retrieved my purse and pen had I only catered to rich clients!”

After that, Poritosh defended the so-called scum of the society with continued zeal. I guess such passion is only attributable to the peculiar tribe known as lawyers.