28. Merging The Identity:

In his Medical College days, Keshava was a devoted fan of Moulvi Liakat Hussein, a great Indian Freedom Fighter of national stature, who hailed from Calcutta. Moulvi sahib treated Keshava as his own son. Moulvi sahib was a true Bharatiya, who loved his country above all else. He did not allow any religious bigotry to come into his mind. Naturally, Keshava was in the forefront of all rallies and meetings which were led by Moulviji. In one such procession, a European Police Officer, Mr. Loman came to Keshava, and said in pure Marathi "Are you not from Maharashtra?". Keshava was surprised. He asked a question in return: "Even though you are a European, how do you know Marathi so well?".

Mr. Loman went away, without a word.

Upon reflection, Keshava realized later that his having the "Shikha" (band of hair in the back portion of otherwise shaved head) in the Maharashtrian style had to have been the dead give-away to Mr. Laman. He immediately had his "Shikha" removed, grew a full head of hair, and became, with his fluency in Bangla language, indistinguishable from any other Bengali person; so that the British police could not easily identify him.

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