Unit 4: Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory

Bepin Babu was surprised that Parimal Ghose knew a lot of his personal details. He was aware of Bepin’s leg injury, bag of books, his wife’s death and his brother’s insane behaviour. After hearing so many details from that man, Bepin Babu felt with conviction that there was no valid reason for Parimal to lie about his trip to Ranchi. This made him wonder if he really had a temporary memory loss about his visit to Ranchi.

Bepin Babu was really worried after his encounter with Parimal Ghose, who adamantly claimed to have known him since 1958 during his visit to Ranchi. Besides, when Bepin Babu checked the injury on his right knee, he realised he had no memory of this injury. Hence, to solve the confusing puzzle about his Ranchi visit, Bepin Babu decided to contact Dinesh Mukerji to check if the latter remembered the incidents that happened in 1958. This is the only way he felt all his doubts and confusion could be clarified.

Initially Bepin Babu hesitated to visit Mr. Mukerji because he was afraid of Dinesh’s ruthless sarcasm that he might need to face. He rather ignored whatever details that Parimal divulged in the book store and regarded all as false. Nonetheless, the thought of how Parimal Ghose knew so many of his personal details troubled him and he decided to finally check with Mr. Mukerji for clarity. Hence, he decided to contact Mr. Mukerji over call to avoid embarrassment right on his face.

Mr. Mukerji quickly checked his diary and confirmed both he and Bepin Babu had visited Ranchi in October 1958. This confirmation put Bepin Babu in a fix and he was unable to figure out why and how come he didn’t have any memory of his Ranchi visit.