The Students of Malaviyaji can Never Speak a Lie

Prof. A.D. Bohra

I recall an incident which took place sometime in the late 30s which would go to pin-point the responsibility which the students of Malaviyaji have to shoulder in their life. Four of us were returning from BHU for summer vacation and, as usual, we had excess luggage on account of the books that we were carrying not so much to read during the vacation as to impress upon our parents. As bad luck would have it, during the journey from Phulera to Jodhpur, were intercepted by the Ticket Collector who found that we had excess luggage and therefore, had to pay a penalty. Since there was no way to verify the weight, we asked him to check it at Jodhpur station which was only a few hours away. During the intervening period, as can be expected from mischievous students, we managed to pass on the excess luggage to some co-passengers whom we know very intimately. On arrival at Jodhpur he found that we had no excess luggage. By then he had already issued a challan. As a consequences therefore, we had to appear before the Controller of operations, an Englishman, in his office the next day. When he did so, the Ticket Collector accused us, as we had supposed to do, of having disposed of the excess luggage. We denied the allegation. The officer very well knew that we were speaking a lie and decided to inflict a very happy penalty on us which none of us could forget in our life. What he did was to ask us where we came from. When we said we were from BHU, he suddenly enquired whether we were students of the great personality Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. On our nodding our heads, he immediately came out with his verdict that the students of Malaviyaji can never speak a ‘Lie’ and that it was a mistake on the part of the Ticket Collector to have charged us with the offence. When the officer asked us to go , we had no option but to hang our heads in shame and leave his office. Although his questions were very simple and so was his verdict, yet we, as students of Malaviyaji, felt ashamed of our conduct. This was a punishment much bigger than what if we had been fined with any amount. All the students of Malaviyaji carry a heavy responsibility of acting in a manner which would please him while in the heavens.