by A. J. PHILIP
In 1980 when I joined The Searchlight at Patna, one hilarious subject discussed was how the flood waters destroyed all the personnel records in the office. It is claimed that the flood that ravaged Bihar’s Capital was caused by the Indian Army. You may wonder how it happened. It is said that when the swollen Ganga was about to enter the Danapur military cantonment, the jawans breached an embankment allowing the water to enter Patna. Whether it is true or not, Patna never experienced that kind of flood either before or after.
When the p e r s o n n e l records were destroyed, the employees were asked to produce certificates to prove their age. Some of the smarter ones among them produced age certificates that showed they were 10 to 15 years younger. But the most hilarious case I know is a father-son duo whose age difference, according to their certificates, was just five years. If the Guinness Book of World Records had heard about him, the father would have been honoured as the youngest person ever to beget a son.
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