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As young Keshava arrived in Kolkatta to attend the National Medical College,
he found Mr. Gopal V. Ketkar waiting eagerly for him. Though Keshava had never
met him previously, Mr. Ketkar was exceedingly friendly and solicitous to
him. This made the normally cautious Keshava became instantly wary of him.
Soon, the true colors of this spy (who had been specially sent by the British
regime to spy on Keshava) where revealed, when he began to press (gently)
Keshava to talk above his political views. He also frequently showed great
curiosity about Keshava’s revolutionary, freedom fighter friends who they
were, where they met, what their plans were, etc. Being alert, Keshava never
gave him any information. On the contrary, he spoke and behaved like a
carefree young man mostly interested in sports and movies.
However, some of Keshava’s friends were taken in by the false humility of Mr.
Ketkar. They thought that he was q genuine patriot.
One day, when Mr. Ketkar had gone out, Keshava opened his box and conducted a
search. He found a recent letter from the city of Pune. Keshava took it out
and closed the box as it was before. Among other things, the letter asked Mr.
Ketkar “to take good care of Narayana Rao, who would reach Kolkatta soon”. It
was signed “Tatya”(uncle).
At once, Keshava deduced that this: uncle” must be a British CID officer, and
Narayana Rao referred to in the better must be the well-known revolutionary
freedom-fighter Shri. Narayana Rao Sawarkar. His arrival was a secret known
only to the revolutionaries, but obviously there was a leak somewhere, so the
CID had come to know; about it. Keshava showed the letter and shared his
deductions with all other friends. They were shocked to see the utter reality
– Keshava had been right from the beginning.
That night, Mr. Ketkar frantically searched for the letter; and he was deeply
upset when he could not find it. Everyone, who knew the reality, told Mr. Ketkar
that they did not knew where the letter was.
Mr. Ketkar realized soon that his game was up, and it was wise for him to go
away. He left quickly.
Years later, his respect for P.P.Doctorjee had not diminished. He always
called him “My worthiest enemy”. Indeed!
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