It was a typical early winter morning scene at the Alipore Zoological Gardens. The atmosphere was besieged by the din produced by varying notes and calls of birds and animals. The superintendent’s quarters were located in the Zoo premises quite close to the Carnivora house. The incessant roars of the burly big cats broke the superintendent’s slumber. He got up from bed and glanced at the calendar. It was 3 January 1909. His big airy bedroom was filled with awards, medals and citations. It was quite natural since Sanyal babu was the first superintendent of one of the best zoological gardens in the world and that too for 33 years. He had made quite a name for himself and the zoo for authoring the first ever book on the management of wild animals in captivity. He was a simple village man who had come to the capital city of British India to pursue his dreams. He took pride in the fact that he occupied this coveted post by his hard work, passion and determination.

But of late he was getting tired of his job. He felt that he had achieved all that that was achievable and hence his zeal was ebbing. He was not keeping well for some time and also, his wife and only child had died long ago. The thought of resigning and going back to his native village had started occupying his mind. He had also started dropping hints to his colleagues to this end.

He slowly pulled aside the mosquito net and came out of his king size four poster bed. Soon he was standing at the Victorian window with a steaming cup of tea for company.

Sanyal babu looked out of the window and was soon lost in thoughts. His career as a superintendent was quite eventful but it was not always a bed of roses. He had met so many great personalities in his time that he had lost count. From meeting the Prince of Wales who later ascended the throne of England as King Edward VII and the erstwhile King of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah to meeting and interacting with the beautiful scientific minds of the times who were camping in the capital city of British India — JC Parker and DD Cunningham to name a couple. He could never forget Dr George King and Dr John Anderson who was his friend, philosopher and guide. Sanyal babu’s quest to unravel the truth of his religion was answered by none other than the great Swami Vivekananda when he came visi

Suddenly the roar of his favourite tiger couple brought him back to his present state. The superintendent always had a special liking for the tigers and suddenly an incident flashed in his mind where he could have met his end at the hand of his favourite beast.

Sanyal babu clearly remembered it was a winter evening, 23 January 1877. Two tigers escaped from their Burdwan House enclosure. All hell broke loose at the news of the escape. It soon spread like wildfire resulting in shops and bazaars to down their shutters. Not a single soul could be seen in the vicinity of the zoo. As it was already dark and the zoo had plunged into pitch darkness, the Commissioner of Police deputed a company of sepoys whose job was to continue yelling at the top of their voices the whole night to frighten the tigers and prevent them from coming out of the zoo premises. To make matters worse, Sanyal babu and his colleagues were holed up in a small ticket office made up of darmah (bamboo thatch) mats only. It was a clear moon-lit night and they could see to their horror that one of the two tigers passed closed to them but did not show any interest in either them or in the other denizens of the zoo, as their stomachs were full by the time they escaped. At the crack of the dawn, the tigers were shot dead at the Police Commissioner’s order. Sanyal babu was crestfallen as he had wanted the tigers to be captured rather than put down.

Sanyal babu could also never forget the clash of the titans that took place right in the cages of the zoo. It so happened that two garden keepers had a difference of opinion as to who was the real king of the beasts, tigers or lions. They tried to settle this point once and for all when they willingly raised the grating door separating a lioness and a tiger. Soon loud angry roars and grunts could be heard. Sanyal babu rushed to the carnivore enclosure and got the shock of his life to find the beasts locked in a battle of supremacy. He and his men tried hard to separate the warring beasts but to no avail. The fierce battle ended only with the brutal death of the lioness.

Sanyal babu sighed at those memories as he always did at the untimely death of an animal and called his orderly for another cup of tea while he sat on his beautifully carved Burmese teak study table. He derived pride from the fact that he was also a decent writer. He had this habit of penning his thoughts, experiences and anecdotes in his notebook. His failing health had made him believe that he won’t survive in this city for long. His last wish began to take birth. He wanted to give up everything here and be the simple village folk once again. He desperately wanted a carefree life in the village away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Sanyal babu pulled out a paper and his favourite golden ink pen. He was immersed in deep thought. He strongly felt that this was the right time to hang up his boots and soon he began drafting his resignation letter. He neatly folded his resignation letter in an envelope and put it in his coat pocket. He had made up his mind that he would hand over his resignation letter to the secretary of the management committee, Mr Buckland and fulfil his last wish.

But as fate would have it, Sanyal babu could not muster the courage to present his resignation letter. Every day he religiously kept it in his pocket and thought about handing it over but could never do so. In the mean time he became extremely ill but continued to shoulder his responsibility. ***

It was the morning of 9 October 1909.The clock struck 11 at the zoo office but there was no sign of Sanyal babu. This was quite unusual as he was very punctual. He reached office by 10 sharp, come rain or shine. His orderly was also amazed because Sanyal babu had not summoned him yet for his endless sessions of hot piping tea.

No sooner was the matter reported to Mr Buckland that he along with a few others rushed to the superintendant’s quarters. He knocked at the door and called for Sanyal babu. By now others too had joined him at knocking and banging at the door but there was no response. Sensing something was amiss Mr Buckland at last ordered his men to break the door open.

As soon as the door was broken, everyone rushed in. They found Sanyal babu lying on his bed with his notebook lying on his chest. Dr Biswas who was accompanying the worried party tried to wake him up but in vain. Dr Biswas checked his pulses. He did this several times. With a deep and sad baritone he declared that the superintendent was no more.

An eerie silence engulfed the room. Mr Buckland lifted the superintendent’s notebook and a neatly folded envelope fell on the ground. He lifted it up and found the envelope addressed to him. He opened and found it contained Sanyal babu’s resignation letter. He opened the notebook and found a note scribbled in his legible Bengali handwriting. He asked one of his men to read and explain it.

The man went through Sanyal babu’s last wish with tears rolling down his cheeks.

Everyone sighed and felt sorry at the superintendent’s unfulfilled last wish. He had devoted so many years of selfless service to the institution but could never have quality time for himself, which he thoroughly deserved. All he wished for was to return to his village once last time.