'Take me home'

This was Jyoti Basu's last request to his personal assistant of 33 years, Joy Krishna Ghosh; however, this was not to be...

While the nation danced and partied to bring in the New Year, veteran leader Jyoti Basu was confined to a bed of AMRI Hospital, Salt Lake City with a severe pneumonia attack. Seventeen days later, he passed away at 11.47 am.


The Last salute: (CPM) leader Sitaram Yechury paying his tributes to
Jyoti Basu at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday.
PIC/IMTIYAZ KHAN

But what aggrieves his chhaya shongi (shadow follower) or personal assistant of 33 years, Joy Krishna Ghosh, is that he couldn't fulfill Basu's last request, though he had discharged every one of them all these years.
"On January 5 and 10, He told me, take me home. Whatever happens will be from there. It should end where it started."

Those were the only last words he spoke, apart from a frail wave at son Chandan between January 5 and 7.
Joy Krishna Ghosh could not take him home this one time, for his treatment demanded first part and then full medical ventilation, an outer pacemaker and three-time dialysis.

Incidentally, Basu's abode has also been of historical significance. Christened Indira Bhawan after the strong friendship he shared with the former Prime Minister, Basu lived here since 1982.

Basu was always known as a man of will over words, one to not play with his party's repute even in the face of differences. Thrice, he suffered a blow from his own men. In 1996, when he didn't make it to the Prime Minister's chair, in 2004 when he wanted the 61 Left MPs to stand in Parliament directly and in 2008 "when he said it was okay to oppose the nuclear deal ideologically but not at the cost of standing against Congress like the BJP. However, he stood strongly against lashing out in the media or on any public platform, and saved his criticism only for internal meetings.

And yet, Opposition leaders remember him for his forthrightness. LK Advani, whose party he called ashobbho (uncivilised) during the demolition of the Babri Masjid, SMSed in reverence yesterday, fondly remembering Basu's fearless frankness and clarity of conviction since the beginning.

Praises from other eminent personalities too poured in during his last few days. Actor Mithun Chakravorty, who called him uncle, suggested ways to make him immortal.

On the evening of January 16, after his second dialysis at 7.29 pm, Dr AK Maiti at AMRI told Amitabh Bachchan he could meet and touch Basu if he wished. But Bachchan stood outside, so as to not disturb him, and wrote in the visitor's book "I hope Bengal's great son rises and recovers quickly."

Dona Ganguly and P Chidambaram were the others who looked him up. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will join in for the last rites, apart from other famous faces.