Year 1982. It was a second class compartment of a Jabalpur bound train. I, along with my friend Nilanjan Mukhopadhayay, was going to Jabalpur to participate in an event against communal politics organized by IPTA. One of our fellow travelers was a quiet, almost withdrawn old gentleman, his constant reading interspersed by bouts of reflectively looking out of the window. We took him to be a retired teacher, heading home.