Czarina

By Sam Kashir

Czarina is a heart-warming diction of an ordinary persecuted citizen of the Soviet Union. It has in its folds a blend of love and affection, jealousy and prejudice, fright and disgust, sex and adultery; all interwoven with great expertise reflecting the usual human instincts.
The author does not attract the reader by creating undue suspense, nor does the story start with a bang. He puts the story to the reader in a natural way. Despite heros outstanding performance in written tests, he does not get the expected position after an interview for a governmental job. With frustration abound, the hero deserts his country through Afghanistan and reaches the UK. Without dragging, the author illustrates with perfection the plight of an asylum seeker. On arrival in the UK, he starts his life with menial jobs and with the passage of time, through devotion and hard work, he reaches the top echelons in the British society. While struggling to reach this enviable position he could not give as much attention to his wife as was expected by her. Being so neglected, she gets attracted to a handsome admiral of Royal Navy. I was gripped to complete reading in one go to find whether the Hero and heroine unite..Professor Sabir Jaffery

This is an interesting story which holds the readers attention throughout. It has a good length and the plot hangs together well. The characters are believable and the book gives good insights into the Russian attitudes and character, as well as the functioning of the Soviet administration. The transition to a more open type of administration after the dissolution of the USSR is well handled. For Westerners there are many glimpses of life in an unfamiliar context. Professor Dr Calum Gilmour New Zealand

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481775687

Sam Kashir

SAM KASHIR superbly uses the knowledge from his background while narrating the events in his novels. He is able to get the reader’s grip quickly over the areas about which he narrates the events of his story; like in Czarina his characters move around in London and the cities of Soviet Union getting the reader involved into its narration. Commodore (Retd) SAM Kashir was borne at Quetta, in 1946. He joined the Navy in 1965 and retired in 2000. He developed his reading habits during patrols on board submarines. He wrote Czarina after retirement from the Navy. SAM KASHIR describes the ruthless working of intelligence agencies in his novels, which adds a definite tinge of suspense into his classic fictions. Some of the readers of his novels have written back that his description of the relationships got stark and abashed but these were not on the sly and remained artful. Kashir progresses straight into the events rather getting into boring and cumbersome details of descriptions of the characters, making the reader thirsty for the next event.

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2013 by Sam Kashir. All rights reserved.

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

This is entirely a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues are author’s imagination and not to be construed to be real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons living or dead would be completely coincidental.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/28/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7567-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7568-7 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HIGH HOPES

DELUSION AND ESCAPE

THE INTERROGATION

ANGOLA CONTRA PLAN

COURTING THE SOVIET WAY

TO THE WEST WITH POWDER

THE DISTASTE

THE RESETTLEMENT

THE NEW HORIZONS

BUSINESS EXPANDS

BREAK UP OF EMPIRE

FURTHER EXPANSION

AMBITION TAKES ITS TOLL

THE HUMILIATION

STRANGE REUNION

RETURN TO HAVEN

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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S AM KASHIR superbly uses the knowledge from his background while narrating the events in his novels. He is able to get the reader’s grip quickly over the areas about which he narrates the events of his story; like in Czarina his characters move around in London and the cities of Soviet Union getting the reader involved into its narration. Commodore (Retd) SAM Kashir was borne at Quetta, in 1946. He joined the Navy in 1965 and retired in 2000. He developed his reading habits during patrols on board submarines. He wrote Czarina after retirement from the Navy. SAM KASHIR describes the ruthless working of intelligence agencies in his novels, which adds a definite tinge of suspense into his classic fictions. Some of the readers of his novels have written back that his description of the relationships got stark and abashed but these were not on the sly and remained artful. Kashir progresses straight into the events rather getting into boring and cumbersome details of descriptions of the characters, making the reader thirsty for the next event.

HIGH HOPES

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I t was one of those pleasant early October mornings in Dushanbe, not too cold, when heating at homes is not yet required and a jacket is all that one needs to remain cosy in the open. As usual, Nassimov’s father left early while it was still dark in the streets. He had done so for many years. He had been promoted from a labourer to a timekeeper at a cotton garments factory after having worked there for over two decades. As the timekeeper, he was required to be at the factory before arrival of the other workers. He performed his duties with devotion for all those years, but somehow his superiors never acknowledged his performance. As a child, he could not get education beyond the basic five classes, as there was no school with further education in his village at that time. After growing up he started working, got married and then could never go for further education. He suffered throughout in his life for his lack of education. At the birth of Nassimov, his only son, he vowed to give him the best possible schooling. His son, complying with his father’s desire, studied hard for all those years and his dream came true when his son, after his Master’s Degree, passed the competitive examination to qualify for the USSR’s Superior Government Services.

Having passed the written examination, the next step was an interview by a committee appointed by the Central Board for Selection for Superior Services of the USSR. Nassimov’s father asked his mother the night before to pray to God, because he assumed that she was pious and nearer to Him. He thought that God listened to her and that she should pray for their son to succeed in the interview which was due the next day. He, in fact, did not personally believe in any kind of God. He came across too many failures in life. He felt he was the most deserving candidate for advancement, yet he was not promoted on a number of occasions. He thought if there were anything like God, who supposedly was just, he would not let him go through such agonies in his life. Despite his unbelief, whenever there was any occasion, he thought in case there happened to be God, His assistance might as well be sought. Therefore he asked his wife to seek her God’s help. His wife, however, said that God was always there and that He tested people for their doings in this world; success or failure did not matter. Whenever occasion came for promotions, Nassimov’s father used to ask his wife to pray for him but her prayers didn’t seem to be answered and that happened many number of times. He continued to be a timekeeper, although he thought he had enough experience and was capable of becoming a foreman or at least a supervisor a long time ago. He always thought that if there was someone looking after his interest amongst the high ups or in the Communist Party, he could have become a supervisor many years ago. Some of his colleagues went up the ladder like that. While he, for no rhyme or reason continued to be a labourer; he then was made a timekeeper for the same pay and in the same place where he worked for those many years.

Nassimov’s mother before sleeping the previous night took out her husband’s wedding suit for her son to wear for the interview next morning. Her husband had worn that suit on only three or four occasions since then. Once, she recalled, at her father’s funeral and then a few times when they were invited at the marriage functions. Nassimov’s grandfather loved him dearly and had predicted that his grandson would bring back the old glory of the family.

Nassimov’s great grandfather used to work in the court of the Czar and was killed along with many others during the Bolshevik revolution. His grandfather, as a teenage orphan at that time, had to shoulder responsibility for his family. He paid all the gold in his family to be able to go back to his grandmother in Fargana, their native town in Tajikistan, to live with his grandparents. The night before the interview Nassimov’s sister ironed the suit for him with the old electric iron while he studied some books that he had brought from the university library to prepare himself for the interview. The suit fitted Nassimov well, except that it was very old style and the length of its arms and the legs of its trousers were short because he had grown taller than his father. His sister put the suit on the hanger in the living room where Nassimov slept each night. Next day, Nassimov’s mother woke him up before leaving for work. He was already awake and was waiting for the right time to get out of the bed. She once again prayed for his success in the interview, kissed him on the cheek and told him to make sure that he took his breakfast before leaving for the interview. She had placed some ‘Prathas,’ a home baked bread soaked in butter and Sheer Choi, sweetened milk in which some tea leaves were boiled, in the kitchen for him.

Nassimov arrived at the City Hall where interviews for the Superior Services for the Soviet Union were to be held on his bicycle. He was full of confidence, as he knew he had topped in the written test in whole of Tajikistan that preceded the interview. The aged Principal was very fond of him because of his brilliant academic career at the college. Many years back he had also been a teacher of the city’s Mayor, who was a member of the Board to select the probationers out of the candidates for the Superior Services of the Soviet Union. The Principal had briefed the Mayor about Nassimov. He was pleased to see such a brilliant boy on the list from Tajikistan. The Chairman of the Interview Board was one of the several Deputy Assistant Directors at the Services Selection Council at Moscow. All the candidates and members of Interview Board, except the Chairman, were on time for the event. The Secretary of the Board came into the room where all the candidates were sitting. She mustered the candidates and surmised that those naïve looking shabbily clothed boys, after a few years of service would turn into sophisticated and elite bureaucrats of the Soviet Union; the change would take place just naturally and automatically. She grinned when she saw Nassimov, who looked like a peasant from the interior countryside, in his orthodox, old-fashioned suit, with large collars and short-sleeved jacket. It looked as if a farmer had come to the city to sell his merchandise at a fair. There were two boys who wore neat and well-trimmed dresses and sat at a distance from the rest of the candidates. She greeted the candidates with a typical pastoral, obtrusive smile and told them the sequence in which they would be called in for interview. When she looked at the two boys sitting in the corner, her gestures changed altogether. She knew that they were the sons and wards of the Communist Party members and were to be given due respect.

The President of the Interview Board had still not arrived, while everyone continued to wait. At college, he had taken French as his second language and he could express himself in that language with a coarse Russian accent. The only occasion he had spoken French with foreigners was when he was detailed with a French-speaking group of the International Red Cross Society going to Afghanistan during the Russian invasion of that country. At the end of his stay with them one of the members of the group gave him a few postcards with landscapes of Paris. He often went on imaginary promenades of the fairy city through those cards. After the departure of the group from the USSR, the security people had interviewed him for two days, which he thought was most un-necessary. Nassimov daydreamed about being selected for the Foreign Service or the KGB and imagined roaming around in Paris after his selection. He quickly shook himself out of his imagination and in that dreaming state, started ruminating over the questions that he expected to be asked. It must have been long, by the time the Chairman of the Interview Board arrived and the interviews started, because Nassimov was able to go over most of his preparation for his interview mentally while sitting in the waiting room.

Before the start of the interviews, the President of the Interview Board read out the charter of the responsibilities of the Board members. The Chairman pointed out that all the members of the Board were honour-bound and that it was the duty of each member to remain strictly impartial. While reading the memorandum to the members, he said it was done so as to remind them that they have to ensure that the most competent were selected and that the future of their beloved Soviet Union lay in the correct selection from amongst the candidates. After reading it out he got signatures from all the members of Board to the effect that the Chairman had read out the impartiality article to the members. All the candidates had, in fact, cleared the written examination and according to the interview grading, letters appointing them to various departments would be issued to the candidates. They would remain on probation for about a year. Then either they would be confirmed or their departments changed according to their suitability. Nassimov’s interview started off with a bang when the President, seeing second language in his educational certificate as French, tried to speak a sentence in French, to which Nassimov briskly replied in the same language. The Mayor also asked a few questions and nodded his head as if he was inspired by the reply. The two other members were also quite impressed by his knowledge. At the completion of the interviews, marks for all candidates were tallied. All the Board members assessed Nassimov ahead of others but the Board President graded him much lower. On his list the two boys who were attired richly occupied the top two positions. The President demanded explanations from other members as to how that boy could get better marks than those who were so well dressed? The one who did not know where Scandinavia was and had guessed it to be in Latin America? No way, sir! said the Mayor, You just cannot compare the two. Nassimov is knowledgeable and shows promise . . .

Look at the grooming difference. The President of the Board abruptly said, He is just a factory worker’s son but the other boy is son of a Deputy in the Supreme Soviet and one of his uncles holds a senior post in the KGB. He continued with a conviction, Just compare the column of references, this boy, what is his name? Yes, it is Nassimov! He has no reference at all.

Let’s be fair, said the Mayor, looking right into the eyes of each member of the Interview Board I remind you gentlemen what was reiterated at the beginning of the interviews by the worthy Chairman of this Board. He paused for a while and then restarted, Let us be fair for the sake of the future of our beloved Soviet Union. May I say again that all of us have also signed on a document for remaining impartial?

Everyone is free to develop his own opinion after the interview, quickly said the Chairman and then added, In my opinion, if that boy in rags is selected for a superior service, he won’t bring any honour to our country. That is if he is posted abroad. He continued after a while, speaking loudly, Conversely, looking around for the effect, he added, The well-groomed boys, who know how to tackle situations, when sent abroad will definitely do well. As for knowledge, they will gain with experience. He continued, We are interviewing those who have succeeded in the written examinations. These interviews are just to ascertain the suitability of the individuals against the type of jobs that they may, or may not, be able to perform. Let me add that, according to the quota system in vogue in USSR, there is only one seat for the Foreign Service and one for KGB, for this state, and these two must go to the most deserving candidates, that is the ones that I just mentioned.

The Mayor was still not happy with the explanation and said, I agree that all will get employed but some will become clerks while others will join fast stream and head towards becoming chiefs of departments, ambassadors or may be one day one of them might even become head of KGB. The Mayor continued to be emphatic, he said with conviction, No Sir, we must let the merit rise, otherwise we would rot our system. He resumed, I know the history of nations when responsible people in a system destroyed the system itself or even countries, through nepotism and undue favouritism. At this the Chairman of the Board raised his hand and said in an arrogant tone, Gentlemen! I am not here to listen to a sermon from a man with much less experience and exposure. He stopped for a while and went on, with anger clearly visible on his face, Such pseudo intellectuals are the draggers in every system. However, I have a job to perform and I know exactly how to do it. The Mayor wanted to say something but the Chairman raised his hand and said, Enough gentlemen . . . that is enough. He then looked towards the Mayor and curtly said Mr Mayor, if you feel that strongly about a candidate, that too ordinarily you should not, you may put down your opinion in writing. Due cognisance would be given at Moscow concerning your dissention. All in the Board knew that the Chairmen of such Boards were highly influential people from the Communist Party and no one, usually, would take head on with them. All present were men of experience and knew what the result of such confrontations could be. The Chairman looked up over his oval reading glasses and noticed that there was an effect of his discourse on the members of the Board. The two members brought down the position of Nassimov to the bottom. However, the Mayor left Nassimov at the position that he rated him before the discussion started. The Chairman then collected back the mark sheets from each interviewer; satisfied that the majority gave maximum marks to the sons of the senior Party members who were recommended for the Foreign Service and KGB seats from Tajikistan.

In the evening, ignorant of what had happened amongst the members of the Board, Nassimov boasted to his parents how wonderfully well he had done in his interview. He was very happy with the dialogue with the President of the Board in French. He thought he was able to impress the Board thoroughly with his knowledge. With such thoughts, he extended an invitation to his parents to visit him in Paris after his employment in the Foreign Service was confirmed. Next day he went to visit his principal who took him to the office of the Mayor in the afternoon. The Mayor saw them for a short while and told Nassimov that he did well but he was not too sure what kind of job the Final Selection Office in Moscow would assign to him. Nassimov, however, was full of joy and did not notice at all the word of caution that the Mayor wished to convey. It was to be another two to three months that the results from all over the country would be received in Moscow, compiled and the selected candidates would be allocated departments, according to their merit in the Interview Board results.

DELUSION AND ESCAPE

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A lmost three months had passed since Nassimov appeared in his interview for the Superior Services of USSR and he awaited his result anxiously. One afternoon, as he was sitting alone at home, there was a knock at the door. It was a messenger from the Municipal Office who carried an envelope for him. He took his signatures for having received the letter and went away. Nassimov quickly opened the envelope and found that it carried the result of his interview and contained a letter informing him that he was finally selected as a probationer in the service of the Soviet Union. It was in utter disgust that Nassimov read the contents of the letter, telling him to join the local post office as a clerk, instead of joining the Foreign Service Academy. His sister was the first to return home and learn the news. She did not understand why, instead of rejoicing, her brother was unhappy about the appointment letter. He continued to fume until late that evening when his parents arrived from their work. His sister announced the news. His father was quite happy for his son. It was strange for him, when he suddenly heard his son sobbing and cursing the system for nepotism of the highest degree that existed in the society and about the poor connections they had. His father tried to comfort him by telling him that he would get promotions in the Post Office department, in due course. Conversation with his father was of no avail and did not provide any solace to him.

Nassimov could not sleep the whole night, wondering how and what he should do under the circumstances. Should he join the Post office as a clerk and be there for the rest of his life, or go to the agriculture fields and work as a labourer? Or else he should run away from the unjust Communist society to some capitalist country. He was not able to arrive at any conclusion till morning, nor was he able to sleep for a minute.

Next day he went to see the Principal who advised him to accept what was offered and hope for the best. He felt betrayed that despite all his hard work and the outstanding position in the written examination, he still did not get what he thought he deserved. His dreams were shattered. He felt he could not reconcile himself to his fate. As he came out of principal’s office he found himself talking loudly against the social injustice that prevailed in the Soviet Union. He was in such a rage that he did not realise that he was talking loudly. Nearly shouting, he said that the youth must do something to correct things otherwise it could bring disaster to their country. As he spoke loudly a few students, boys and girls, gathered around him and he found himself standing on a bench. He told his fellow students to act positively, lest the evil forces take hold, destroy their country and harm their beloved fatherland. He felt that with that short speech he was able to express his anger and having no other option should join the Post Office and then try to rise in that department. But, suddenly, someone from amongst the listeners shouted that they must go to the city offices and convey their concern at the worsening state of the affairs. One of the boys shouted at the top of his voice, Yes — we must go, yes —we must go. Then there was a chorus; some of them screamed, Yes others, yelled, We must go. Yes. The others said, We must go. The group started moving out of the college and took the path towards the City Offices, which were about half a kilometre from the college. As they moved, someone abruptly shrieked, We must—get justice. People around did not know what was happening. A few more students joined the procession, just for the sake of fun. As they came out of the college, some by-standees also joined in and started chanting with them, We must . . . others bellowed, Get justice. Most of the boys and girls were there merely for amusement or just accompanying the crowd, as if there was nothing better for them to do at that time. However, a few seemed damn serious about the slogans raised by them. By the time they covered half the distance to the Mayor’s office, they became a crowd of about two hundred people, mostly young boys and girls. In between the slogans they would also chant patriotic jingles as they did every year on the revolution day. Long live the Revolution. Nassimov was ahead of them all and found a great personal satisfaction in leading the slogans. It took them about twenty minutes to reach the Mayor’s office. They were blocked there by an armed contingent of police. A Police officer announced on a loudhailer, in a commanding voice, that they should disperse, or they would fire. Youngsters in the small procession did not know what was happening. All the chanting suddenly stopped immediately after a warning a gunshot was heard. It was all chaos, as the students never expected such a reaction from the Police. After a minute or so there was yet another explosion that caused utter confusion. The boys and girls started running in all directions. They dispersed at full speed in whatever way they were facing at the time. The police in Dushanbe had never experienced any such situation in decades; they used the formula, in accordance with the textbook, and fired two tear gas bombs in succession. That caused commotion and the police immediately started arresting boys and girls. Nassimov did not know what to do; he just jumped over the wall of the public park next to the city offices, and fell flat on his back between the hedge and the wall. He heard many youngsters crying and denying that they had anything to do with that situation. Nassimov continued to lie there on the ground with growing fear of arrest by police with all sorts of thoughts coming to his mind. He imagined he would be apprehended by the police and sent to Siberia, to one of those notorious labour camps. The mere thought caused drops of sweat to roll over his spine.

In utter fear, he kept lying there until after sunset and moved out of the park from the gate at the farther end. He was hungry and instinctively wanted to go home and eat. But something inside him told him not to go there, as police would be waiting to catch him and throw him into a dungeon in the city jail, before condemning him to a labour camp for the dissidents in Siberia. He was right, because the police officer-in-charge thought something underground was cooking and unless he reacted briskly, events would overtake him that could earn him a demotion or even a jail term if he was found negligent of his duties. He knew that was not difficult for the agents of the Central KGB from Moscow to blame a hard working officer like him to get him out of the main stream. The police chief very quickly found out from the arrested students that Nassimov was behind all the commotion. He wanted to arrest the boy named Nassimov as quickly as possible. The police chief found out the address of his parents and a few friends from the students arrested, with a view to locating him and taking him into custody. After coming out of his hiding, Nassimov decided not to go home, instead he went to a friend’s house which was not very far from there. On arrival at his friend’s house he told him that he was running away from the police. The friend of Nassimov worked in the local Municipal Office and he had heard about the police trying to disperse the students who, according to his information, wanted to attack Mayor’s Office. He was hesitant to allow him to stay with him while the police would be looking for him. He said that his father was a conscientious, law-abiding gentleman and that he would not appreciate harbouring a man absconding from the police. However, after a while, for the sake of old friendship he agreed to let him in for an evening. Nassimov was feeling hungry; he took the evening meal with his friend and his father, who arrived by the time his friend laid the food on the table. His friend’s mother had died a few months earlier and father and son lived in that flat by themselves. Nassimov narrated his story to the father while his friend was washing the dishes after dinner. His father took a deep breath, kept quiet for a short while and said that the spirit of revolution had died long ago and that such happenings were the result of accumulation of power in the hands of selfish people. These unpatriotic people were harming the system and were taking the country to a point where he thought sooner than later there would be a counter-revolution. His friend’s father agreed to give refuge to Nassimov just for a short while, because he did not wish to invite trouble for himself unnecessarily by keeping him for a longer period. After a second thought, he announced that he expected the police to visit all his friends including his house; therefore, it was not safe for him to stay there. However, upon insistence from his son, he agreed to let him stay the night in the attic. Nassimov did not know what to do and what was best for him under such circumstances. Before he could say anything, a portable staircase, was brought and he was quickly sent into the attic. He was given an old mattress to sleep on and a blanket that was taken from the doghouse. After giving him the blanket, the removable plank in the roof was put in place. At night it became very cold as the attic had holes on the two sides for cross ventilation. He could not sleep the whole night and kept planning as to what he should do. At times, he thought he should kill the police chief and all the members of the Interview Board. But inside him he knew he could not accomplish any such thing to satisfy his rage. He was also worried about his parents and sister, whom he was sure the police must have taken for interrogation and of course Czarina! With the thoughts about her, he felt a strange anxiety within him, which gradually turned into self-criticism. He felt annoyed with himself. Why should she ever have to undergo the rigours of interrogation by police? Just because she was his girlfriend! ‘I should go straight to police and surrender,’ he thought, ‘and let her not suffer because of me.’ He knew police interrogation in the Soviet Union was like an experience into the hell. He had heard about some dissidents who went through tortures, solely because they thought governance was not as good as it should be, or they pointed out some corrupt practices in the system. Was his thinking politically motivated? He reflected for a moment; his inner reply was in the negative. If it was so, he could have joined the Communist Party much earlier and could have been enjoying, what was generally said, the fruits of joining the Party.

Deep in his reflections, he remembered when he saw Czarina entering the college gate on her first day at the college. Her family lived in the same locality as his parents. He remembered seeing her casually, off and on, in the area. But on that day he felt she was looking absolutely different; she had fully blossomed. Were these the feelings of the growing up man in him, or she was looking prettier, he did not know. She moved gracefully towards the office block, while walking briskly, she looked right to left, her shining golden hair swung over her shoulders side to side like a frill. She had grown in height, not too tall like a sports-girl, but she was definitely taller than usual Tajik girls. That day, when she entered the college gate, she looked like a human size doll; perhaps like the cheerful Anita, the famous Russian model. She wore a simple blouse with a matching skirt, which covered her knees, but her soft and shapely legs were very apparent under her dress. He had understood that she was there to seek admission in the first year. Nassimov was in a hurry to go for his class. He waived at her and she responded with a nervous smile. She was too happy to see a familiar face in the college. She remembered seeing him in their locality as one of the elderly athletic boy, who was respected for his physique and appearance. She had seen the boys quarrelling and running around chasing girls here and there. But Nassimov was different. He moved around, as if he cared for no one in the area. That carefree attitude had always impressed Czarina. They had not met, yet Czarina knew his name. He wanted to stop, but as he was getting late, he swiftly moved towards the classroom. He was in the third year at the college. He being a regular student did not wish to miss out a period.

Senior students had made plans to get together and make the new-entrants as first-year-fools. He was against it. He thought senior students should assist the juniors in getting to know the college and its routine, rather to fool around with them. When he had given his opinion to, mainly the boys group, they had disagreed with his views. However, majority liked the idea and went along with their schemes to mess about with the new entrants. On that day, attendance in the classrooms remained thin, as many of the students had stayed out for mingling with the new students.

When he came out at the break time, he felt himself searching for Czarina. Soon he located her in the group of the new entrants going towards the offices. She smiled; her mouth went up at the corners, which made her look further pretty. She indeed was relieved to see him again. Her large sparkling green eyes added to her beauty. He felt an inner desire to speak to her, Hello again . . . he said slowly. He thought she was beautiful, yes but then there was something more that attracted him and he got drawn towards her. He had located her from her rear; it was written on her back New Year fool, with ink spreading at the lower portion of the words. It was stamped so, on most of the new-entrants dresses. It had destroyed the dress of those boys and girls. It was an old practice at the college to do so with the new entrants at the college. ‘Nonsense,’ he thought. He remembered when he had joined the college, his mother was terribly angry because, while washing, she could not remove the ink stains from the back of Nassimov’s shirt. The boys had made stamps out of half-cut potatoes and carved NEW YEAR FOOL over it. They were using those potatoes for stamping at the back of the new entrants. She looked very upset. He went straight towards the group, said hi to Czarina and led them towards the amphitheatre, where he knew the new entrants were to assemble. He smiled at Czarina, she grinned; the group felt comforted with his guidance. Soon the professor arrived and started giving them instructions for filling up the forms. He asked Nassimov to assist him in distribution of the forms, which he did briskly. When they were dispersing Czarina blushed and thanked Nassimov. He extended his hand towards her; she shook it. Her hand was very soft, like velvet. She felt secure giving her hand in that big athletic, manly hand. To express his warmth, instead of just once, he shook her hand thrice; she smiled. Since morning, after reaching the college, she had been serious. That cheerful smile touched his heart, once again. While smiling friendlily, she resembled Anita the famous Russian model. Nassimov did not know what to say. For the sake of conversation he said that would she come to see the basketball practice the next day in the evening, at the college courts. She smiled and replied in the positive and they parted. As he walked towards his house, he thought of his encounter with Czarina. ‘There is something special about her smile,’ he thought. After the smile, she moved her head; her golden hair rolled over to a side and when she looked up she looked like an angle. ‘Yes, she is an angel,’ He was very happy to have come across her and pleased with himself. That night he remembered he had dreamt of a princess, who turned out to be Czarina. He remembered he had woken up at the end of the dream and thought of her beauty and serenity for a long time before going off to sleep again. Next day, they met at the college Basketball courts. She liked watching the game. Then on, they met in the college and at the courts a number of times. One day, after a game of Basketball, they went to the college canteen. Nassimov had a mug of coffee and she took a cup of hot chocolate. He found her to be very charming to talk to. She had sparkling green eyes with long and dark eyelashes. He wanted to keep watching her large eyes. When she blinked her eyes, he felt as if curtains went up and down with the wind. He gazed at her, without speaking anything for long. He felt himself mesmerised with her beauty. She said, What are you looking at . . . He did not wish to get out of that trance. He replied simply, I am . . . I am looking at you . . . my dear She blushed and looked down. As she spoke he found that her mouth went up at the corners that added to her cheerful radiant visage. I want to tell you . . . then she stopped. She had a soft musical voice. She pronounced each syllable separately; he felt piano’s resonance that usually comes at the end of concerts. He wanted to hear her sweet voice, he said slowly Go ahead and say what you want to say . . . She was already very impressed with him from her first day at the college. She always felt comforted in his company. She wanted to be with him as and when she could. They were sitting over a cushioned bench, next to the wall. As he said so, he held her arm; she finally was able to say, I like you . . .

I wanted to say that since many days . . . said Nassimov and kept quiet for a short time. She replied, What . . .

"That I love